Reading The Lightening Thief: The Curse
by Schocker
Summary: Percy and other future demigods are sent back to the winter solstice to read the books with the past gods and demigods, but this isn't just reading. A terrible curse has been placed, and with no way to remove it, reading became more intense than any other
1. Introductions

**Introductions **

"Mother Rhea always liked me best!"

"Don't call me sis!"

"My Helm of Darkness easily thrashes your Trident!"

"Silence!" Zeus shouted.

Other Olympians stopped their arguments and turned to the king of the gods.

"Now," he growled, "there are children coming from Camp Half-Blood visiting for the Solstice."

The gods and goddesses looked cheered at seeing their children.

"Who will be coming, father," Athena asked.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Connor and Travis Stoll, sons of Hermes, Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus, Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite, Katie Gardener, daughter of Demeter, and Chris Rodriguez, another son of Hermes. Also joining them is Grover Underwood the satyr, and Chiron." Zeus grumbled Grover's name, still angry at the satyr

Each Olympian smiled as their children were listed.

"I have also decided that Lady Hestia will join us this year. She will take no part in business, but she wishes to see her family, and she is difficult to turn down."

The gods and goddesses understood. Hestia was such a sweet, kind person, that she was difficult to refuse.

There was a flash and then there was a girl, maybe 8 or 9 appeared and bowed to Zeus.

"You don't have to bow, dear sister," Zeus said kindly.

She straightened and a throne appeared next to Dionysus'.

As soon as she sat down, there was a knock, and a centaur, a satyr, and 8 young demigods filed in.

All of the gods smiled at their children as they sat on their chairs across from the gods.

Suddenly, there was a huge _crack!_ and there seemed to be noise coming from the top of the enormous room.

Then they saw three figures hurtling towards the ground screaming.

Zeus waved his hand and a gust of wind shot out and caught two, but the third kept falling before smashing onto the ground, cracking the floor.

The other two people were lowered next to him, and everyone but the other two figures gaped at the poor boy who had just died.

Then, if possible, everyone's jaw went lower when the boy groaned and sat up, then got to his feet.

"Why do you get cushy air, and I get the floor," he grumbled.

The other two, who were teenagers, laughed and the younger boy said, "C'mon Perce, its not like it hurt you."

"Yeah," the boy said, "But still. Everything always hits me!

The girl looked like she was going to join in the conversation, but then she just looked at the gods and said "Whoa."

The boys turned and flanked either side of the girl.

The girl looked about 15, and had spiky black hair, and electric blue eyes, with a silver circlet around her head, with a silvery aura.

The younger boy looked about 13, and was wearing all black, and had black hair, and dark brown, almost black, eyes. He had olive skin, and an aura of death around him.

The older boy had messy black hair, and startling sea green eyes. He had a strong build, and he had a strange feeling. He was powerful, but… kind, and seemed incredibly trustworthy.

"Who are you!" Zeus thundered. **(AN- Sorry, I couldn't resist)**

The teens looked confused, and the older boy asked, "What do you mean?"

The younger boy looked behind him, gasped, and said, "Uhh, Thalia."

The girl, Thalia, turned, making Annabeth gasp and shoot into her arms.

The teenagers were looking at the demigods in shock, particularly at Annabeth clutching Thalia's waist.

"What… the… what year is it," the older boy said.

"It is 2001," Athena said.

"N-no, its 2011," the younger boy said.

Then there was another loud _crack!_ and something bounced of the older boys head.

"OW!" he shouted.

"That didn't hurt," the younger one rolled his eyes, then reached down to pick up the note attached to the box.

He stared at it hard, before saying, "I cant read it," and handing it to Athena.

She took the note and read aloud:

_Dear Olympians, and demigods of the past and future,_

_We have brought you 6 books, and more will be added on later. Now, time has been frozen, and nobody will be able to leave. These 3 demigods in front of you are very important, so DO NOT HARM THEM when they introduce themselves. You will stay there until all of the books are finished, and we will send people to join you at times. We hope you enjoy,_

_The Fates._

_P.S. demigods of the future must use FULL TITLES when introducing themselves._

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Zeus said, "Well? Introduce yourselves!"

The girl and older boy looked at each other, then shoved the younger boy forward.

"Thanks guys," he grumbled.

"I'm Nico di Angleo, son of Hades-" "BROTHER!" "AND! I am over 70 years old after being locked in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. I am also the Ghost King," Nico finished.

Zeus grumbled, "Blasted hotel."

The girl stepped forward. "I am Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, and first lieutenant of Artemis."

"But you're a tree!" most of the room screamed.

"Yeah, I'm aware, and it'll probably be explained in the books."

"You were a tree," Nico asked, confused.

"You didn't tell him?" the last boy asked.

"No," Thalia said, face darkening.

"But… what happened to Zoë?" Artemis asked looking afraid of the answer.

The last boy's face got darker and looked pained, but he said, "It will happen in the books."

Artemis looked like she wanted to interrogate further, but Thalia nudged the boy and said, "Introduce yourself."

"Alright, I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

Zeus and Hades turned to yell at Poseidon, but stopped when they saw their children.

Percy tried to sit down but something wouldn't let him.

"Full title, Percy," Thalia said.

"Perseus Jackson?" he tried but he still couldn't sit.

"FINE! I am Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, Savior of Olympus!"

He sat down with a huff, making Thalia and Nico snicker, while the rest of the room was shocked.

"Well," Zeus cleared his throat.

"Here we have, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

"OH MY GODS! Annabeth was so cute!" Percy yelled before he could stop himself.

Nico agreed and Thalia said, "I definitely forgot she was so cute," making Annabeth blush, and Athena glare and get angry that her daughter would be friends with this sea spawn.

"Connor and Travis Stoll, sons of Hermes."

"YEAH! HERMES RULES!"

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares."

Ares and Clarisse smiled scarily.

"Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus."

Athena was the only one who saw the future demigods wince.

_I wonder what happened_ she thought.

"Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite."

Athena noticed them wince again.

"Katie Gardener, daughter of Demeter."

Katie smiled and waved at them.

"And Chris Rodriguez, another son of Hermes."

Percy whispered so only Thalia and Nico could hear, "What's going to happen to Chris in the second book."

Thalia and Nico shrugged. "I guess we'll figure it out then."

"Also, Grover Underwood the satyr,"

"GO GROVER!" the future demigods shouted, making him blush.

"and Chiron"

"Ok," Thalia said, clapping. "Lets get reading!"

She picked up the first book, and an evil grin spread across her face.

"Uh oh. Last time I saw that look, we had to rebuild 3 cabins," Percy said nervously.

"Its called Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief. And its in Percy's point of view," she said, making her evil smile spread to Nico.

"Oh no," Percy moaned.

"Hehehehe this will be good," Nico said, rubbing his hands together.

Thalia opened the book. **"I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher"**

**So? Good? Bad? I know a lot of people do these things, but I just love to read them, and so I thought I'd write one! Review please! Ill post again in a few days, maybe later today, who knows? Also, who would you like to join? Ive already picked the first person, but the next comes around in a few chappies. Review and let me know!**


	2. Vaporizing Teachers

**Disclaimer- I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS!**

Please vote on the next character to join!

Choices down below!

**I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre–Algebra Teacher **

"Seriously, Percy? Accidentally?" Thalia scoffed.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"No shit," Nico grumbled.

The gods frowned.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:**

"GODS NO, PERCY IS GIVING ADVICE! RUN FOR YOU LIVES!" Thalia and Nico screamed.

"I hate you guys."

**close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"That wont work," Athena tsked.

**Being a half – blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

The future demigods faces twisted into pain as they thought of the war that happened just a mere 2 weeks ago.

Thalia's voice cracked when she read as she thought of the lost huntresses.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages―if you feel something stirring inside―stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"That's not bad advice actually," Thalia said, a little too cheerily, with a fake smile, making everyone look at her weird.

Percy and Nico had similar smiles, and Aphrodite felt tears stream her cheeks as she felt the sad love of many coming from them.

When she sucked in a small sob, everyone looked at her, but she just gestured for thalia to keep reading.

(AN- I know they're all sad and stuff, but the war ended just two weeks ago, so they're still mourning. They'll get better when more friends come)

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

Connor and Travis opened their mouths to respond, when Annabeth glared fiercely ay them. She could tell it wasn't a good time.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

"No, its Thalia," Nico said, who seemed to have recovered slightly.

A few seconds later, Nico was blown into a pillar with his hair sticking up. He smacked his lips at the tingly feeling and sat back down, where Percy was obviously trying not to laugh.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"YES!" Thalia and Nico shouted, snickering at Percy while he rolled his eyes. They seemed to have recovered.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

"See? You agree!" Nico laughed.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our grade six class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight-mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading for the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"What idiot would take demon spawn on a field trip?" Hera said grumpily.

Thalia, Percy and Nico busted out laughing. When Thalia recovered she continued.

**I know- it sounds like torture.**

Athena and Annabeth glared at Percy until he thought he'd wither away.

**Most****Yancy****field****trips****were.** **But****Mr.****Brunner,****our****latin****teacher****was****leading****this****trip,****so****I****had****high****hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was this middle aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.**

Everyone looked at Chiron and understood why the three had laughed.

**You wouldn't think he was cool, but he told stories and jokes and would let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons,**

"Why roman?" Hestia asked.

"I'm not sure," Percy said. "They might have been greek, and I just thought they were roman because we were in latin class."

**so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

**I hoped the trip would be ok. At least, I hoped for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

Thalia and Nico snorted making Poseidon's brow crinkle with worry.

**Boy was I wrong.**

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus but of course, I got expelled anyway.**

…

"OH MY GODS!" Hermes, but everybody else was laughing too hard, even Hera and Athena.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

Connor and Travis bowed to Percy until Katie and Silena pulled them back into their seats.

**And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.**

"No! tell us more!" the Stolls shouted.

**This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chinks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

All three future demigods and Annabeth frowned angrily, but Grover smiled and said, "I'm your best friend?"

"Still are man," Percy said, his scowl fading into a smile at Grover.

**Grover was an easy target.**

Grover frowned.

**He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated.**

"Was that because of-"

"Yeah," Percy said, making Thalia frown.

**He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you.**

"Or he had hooves," Beckendorf said, making everyone jump. He was quiet, and they forgot he was there.

**You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"Way to blow your cover goat boy," Thalia laughed with everyone, making Grover blush.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her cause I was already on probation. The headmaster threatened me with death**

"WHAT!" Poseidon screamed.

**by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"Oh," Poseidon mumbled.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"DO IT!" Ares screamed.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's ok. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"In your hair?" Apollo questioned.

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

Ares grumbled something about "Satyrs," and "Maiming".

**"You're****already****on****probation,"****he****reminded****me.****"You****know****who'll****get****blamed****if****anything****happens."** **Looking****back****on****it,****I****wish****I'd****decked****Nancy****Bobofit****right****then****and****there.**

"You'd hit a girl?" Chris asked, sounding a little mortified.

"You would, too, when you see all that happens in my life," Percy replied, not the least bit bashful.

**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

Poseidon wrinkled his brow again, while some of the Olympians and demigods were wondering what Percy was talking about.

**Mr.****Brunner****led****the****museum****tour.** **He****rode****up****front****in****his****wheelchair,****guiding****us****through****the****big****echoey****galleries,****past****marble****statues****and****glass****cases****full****of****really****old****black-and-orange****pottery.****It****blew****my****mind****that****this****stuff****had****survived****for****two****thousand,****three****thousand****years.**

"We are older than that, Perseus," Hestia said.

Percy got a strange glint in his eye when he looked at the goddess, like he was remembering something he didn't want to.

"Sorry Lady Hestia. I didn't know at the time," he said in a strained voice.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele for a girl our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time, I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

Hades had a thoughtful look on his face. _That__sounds__so__familiar.__I__know__that__person._

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to drive a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

Hades, who had figured out who Mrs. Dodds was, started to scoot away from Poseidon.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"Actually, that's Nico," Percy said, making everyone laugh.

**She would point her finger at me and say, "Now honey," real sweet and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight.**

**I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Make it as obvious as possible, Goat Boy," Thalia snorted, making Grover blush.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about the Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele,**

"So immature," Artemis scowled, and everyone nodded in agreement.

**and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

"Good," Hera approved, surprising everyone.

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

"Of course it did," Nico laughed.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele.**

**"Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

"It had to be that one!" Zeus whined.

"My apologies, Lord Zeus," Chiron replied.

**"Yes," said Mr. Brunner obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."**

**"Well..." I racked my brain trying to remember.**

**"Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"GOD!" all of the gods except Hestia screamed.

Thalia snorted. "Well he certainly knows the difference now," she muttered, but everyone heard and looked confused.

"What do you mean," Athena asked.

Thalia's mouth clamped shut. "Nothing," she lied.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself.**

**"And... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

The gods who were there shuddered.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"No kidding eww!" Hera screamed.

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Way to slim down a hundred year war-" Connor started.

"Into 3 sentences," Travis finished.

Everyone gaped at them.

"What? We pay attention sometimes," they defended.

**Some snickers from the group.**

"Why are they laughing? He got it right," Annabeth asked, looking confused.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"Maybe," Apollo said.

"No, you idiot, it wont," Artemis scolded.

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Certainly applies to our life later," Nico muttered to Percy and Thalia.

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

Everyone laughed and the Stolls high-fived Grover.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

Hermes and Apollo doubled over laughing at that.

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who every caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"Or horse ears," Chris suggested, making everyone laugh.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"Sure as hell do now," Percy muttered.

**"I see," Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe and scattered him remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

Thalia and Nico snorted. "I see Chiron still has the excellent ability to smoothly change the subject," Nico said, causing the demigods to snicker, and some of the gods to stifle a smile.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"When aren't boys doofuses," Thalia said, making Artemis nod in approval. She was beginning to really like her new lieutenant.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."I knew what was coming.I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you gointense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"Older than that, my boy," Chiron chuckled.

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

"One of the most intelligent answers from Percy I have ever heard," Nico sniggered.

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.I mean, sure it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.**

"That sounds so fun!" guess who said that.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I have never made above a C- in my life. No―he didn't want me to be as good he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

All of the demigods nodded in sympathy, even Athena.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took a long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"Probably was," Silena said.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a large storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was Global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

Everyone looked at Zeus and Poseidon, who just shrugged. They didn't know what was happening.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

"Of course," Artemis snorted.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school―the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"Did it work," Grover asked hopefully.

"'Fraid not G-Man," Percy replied.

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean―I'm not a genius."**

Thalia and Nico both opened their mouths, and Percy covered them both saying, "Yeah, yeah, I'm not smart, blah blah blah, I'm a seaweed brain, blah blah."

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone started laughing.

"That… is such…a Grover… thing to…do," Thalia managed to gasp through her laughter," making Grover blush even deeper.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. **

Poseidon and Percy smiled.

**I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head for home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to get kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

The goddesses cooed and Artemis had a silent discussion with Athena.

_It__is__rare__that__you__find__a__young__man__so__devoted__to__his__mother_Artemis mused.

_Yes__… __perhaps__… __he__is__not_so _bad_ Athena grudgingly admitted.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

Beckendorf and Hephaestus both seemed to sit in thought, probably making plans for something like that.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends―I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists―and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

All the half-bloods gritted their teeth.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Attractive," Aphrodite muttered, making everyone chuckle.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

"A wave, how original Perce," Nico snorted, and everyone laughed.

"**I****don't****remember****touching****her,****but****the****next****thing****I****knew,****Nancy****was****sitting****on****her****butt****in****the****fountain,****screaming,****"Percy****pushed****me!"**

"FISHY POWERS ACTIVATE!" Apollo screamed.

"Fishy powers?" everyone asked.

"What else are they called," Apollo reasoned.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see―"**

**"―the water―"**

**"―like it grabbed her―"**

Percy was a little surprised. He had forgotten about that.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.**

"She probably was," Annabeth reasoned.

**"Now, honey―"**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"NEVER GUESS YOUR PUNISMENT!" the Stolls and Hermes screamed.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"No shit, Sherlock," Nico sniggered, and Thalia hit him upside the head.

"What was that for?" he protested.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "There are children present you nimrod."

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

"Thanks for trying, man," Percy said.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

"Understandably," Percy and Nico muttered.

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But―"**

**"You―will―stay―here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

"I'm sure she was terrified," Connor laughed.

Percy whipped his head around and glared at Connor so forcefully, Connor whimpered and hid behind Travis and Katie.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

"SHE'S A MONSTER!" Athena screeched.

"HOW STUPID ARE YOU?" she continued.

Percy sat silently for a moment, fists clenched, trying to control his anger.

"I was unaware that monsters existed at the time. I thought she was just a teacher," Percy said slowly, in a controlled voice.

Thalia put her hand on Percy's shoulder, trying to calm him down, then continued reading before anything else happened.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

Choruses from the half-bloods chimed out, like "No that's not it," "Yeah right," "You wish," and "I'm not so sure."

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

"DON'T!" Poseidon screamed unable to control himself.

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

Everyone looked at Chiron who smiled sheepishly.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"If only," Beckendorf muttered quietly.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

Everyone groaned.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

The tension was thick in the room.

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

You could hear a pin drop in the room.

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

"Get away with what," everyone asked.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

"Unfortunately, I think you may be wrong," Nico said innocently.

"Thanks for the update _Nikki_," Percy said, ruffling his cousin's hair, making Nico grumble.

**I said, "I'll―I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

**I****didn't****know****what****she****was****talking****about.** **All****I****could****think****of****was****that****the****teachers****must've****found****the****illegal****stash****of****candy****I'd****been****selling****out****of****my****dorm****room.**

The Stolls both opened their mouths.

"I will singe your eyebrows off, Stolls," Thalia threatened.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"You haven't read that book," Annabeth demanded.

"Err… my… girlfriend got me an ancient greek copy, and I read it," Percy said hesitantly, then clamped his hands over his ears.

"EEEEEEEEEEE!" Aphrodite squealed.

"You have to tell me who it is," she demanded.

"Read Thalia!" Percy begged.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"A fury!" everyone but Percy screamed.

Poseidon looked murderous, but he knew this was in the future, so there wasn't much sense in attacking Hades.

"Your first monster was a Kindly One, and you didn't think to tell us," Nico demanded.

"Considering some of the other stuff I've done, this was really nothing.

Thalia and Nico nodded, and everyone looked shocked, trying to figure out what 'other stuff' Percy was talking about.

**Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"What's a pen gonna do," Ares snorted.

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword―Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

"Oh," Ares said bashfully.

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

"Wimp," Ares muttered, and Clarisse was about to agree with him, then half of the pacific ocean dumped on her father, prompting her to keep her mouth shut.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at me.**

You could feel the tension in the air.

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"Naturally," Chris muttered.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!**

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan.**

"A weird way to describe it, but it is true," Katie admitted.

**She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

All the demigods shuddered.

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

"Uhh…what?" Travis asked.

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Magic mushrooms? Seriously, Percy?" Nico smirked.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"Nope," the Stolls said.

**I went back outside. It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who," Poseidon asked.

**I said, "Who?"**

Everyone laughed, but Percy and Poseidon smiled a each other.

**"Our teacher. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

"No, no, no, satyrs are terrible liars," Dionysus chastised, surprising everyone.

"You're actually paying attention," Percy asked incredulously.

"Listen here, Peter Johnson, I pay attention when I want to," Dionysus sniffed.

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"Mr. D is right, Grover, you really are a bad liar," Percy said, making Grover blush.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

Everyone glanced at Zeus, who found interest in a button on his shirt.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

Everyone snickered.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"Now Chiron," Travis started approvingly.

"Chiron can lie," Connor finished with a smirk.

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"HA! That'll mess with his mind," Apollo sniggered, making Artemis smack him upside the head.

"Percy has an…interesting mind," Hestia mused aloud.

"Oh I cannot wait to hear his thoughts about…certain people," Nico laughed and Thalia joined in, while Percy had a look of horror.

"Who wants to read next," Thalia asked after she recovered.

"I will," Athena offered, taking the book.

**Three old ladies knit the socks of death**

Then there was a _crack!_ and you could hear screaming as someone fell.

So? How was it? I know some people didn't talk much, but ill get more into them later on. So! Who do you want to arrive in the story?

Young Percy- Percy from right after the end of the first book

Future Connor and Travis

Future Rachael

Other

Let me know! I already know the first two arriving, but who do you want to join?

Ill try to post soon!


	3. Socks of death

_There__was__a_crack! _And__a__noise__at__the__top__of__the__room._

But as the occupants of the room listened and watched for the next person, they quickly realized that the scream was more of an irritated bleat.

They saw the satyr hurtling towards the ground. Dionysus waved his hand, and a bed of soft vines caught the satyr with a muffled, "Hmph!"

The satyr climbed out, looking at the future demigods then the past ones with a confused expression.

"Percy, Thalia, Nico, what…" he dropped off.

"Grover!" the future half-bloods shouted gleefully, running over to meet him.

Everyone gaped at the satyr who was apparently a 10 year older version of the young satyr already sitting there.

"Hey, Grover, we've been sent back in time 10 years to read about my- or really, our- adventures," Percy quickly explained.

"Oh yeah, Grover, meet Grover," Thalia smirked, pointing to the young Grover, who was gaping at his much more impressive older self.

"Oh, and Grover, you have to introduce yourself, with your _full__title_," Percy said.

Grover nodded and stepped in front of the gods with confidence little Grover **(AN-That****'****s****what****I****'****m****calling****the****younger****versions****when****the****future****ones****arrive)** could never have mustered.

"I am Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild," he said in a proud voice.

"YES!" little Grover screamed, then clamped a hand around his mouth.

Grover chuckled. "So," he said, sitting down next to Thalia, "Who's reading?"

"I am," Athena said.

"Ahem, **Three****old****ladies****knit****the****socks****of****death**," she began.

"Is this when you saw the,-" "Yeah," Percy interrupted Grover.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.**

"Just Chiron and I," Grover said apologetically.

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"Percy _is_ psycho," Thalia, Grover and Nico said laughing.

"And how many times has Mr. Psycho saved _your_asses?" Percy smirked.

Thalia, Nico, and Grover quickly shut up, ignoring the confused and worried looks from around the room.

**It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

"But she did!" Clarisse screamed.

"Well, he did say almost," Annabeth pointed out.

**Almost.**

Annabeth blushed, but Percy just smiled.

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

"Grover," everyone groaned.

Little Grover blushed horribly, but the older just laughed good-naturedly.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate,**

**then****claim****she****didn't****exist**. **But****I****knew****he****was****lying.**

**Something was going on. Something _had_ happened at the museum.**

"No shit!" Nico said, then was doused in water and shocked simultaneously.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"I hate when that happens," Thalia muttered, and all the half-bloods nodded in agreement.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. **

Everyone looked at the two younger brothers, who found great interest in their shoes.

**One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

"_Why_ are you so mad, Father," Athena asked.

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

"He is your son, barnacle head," Athena gasped, resulting in grumbles from Poseidon and Percy.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

Annabeth giggled.

"What does it mean," Chris asked.

"It means a drunk person…"

The room erupted into giggles from the children.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

"I'm very disappointed in you Percy," Nico scolded.

"Hey! I've been at Goode for 3 years now!" Percy said proudly.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

"Aww, does Percy want his mommy," Ares taunted.

"I love my mommy!" Percy said with pride in his voice.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

There was a growl, but after seeing the confused look on Poseidon's face, they realized it was coming from Percy.

"Hey, Perce, calm down, it all worked out," Grover said soothingly, making Percy calm down.

**And yet . . . there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, **

Both Grovers smiled.

**even if he was a little strange.**

Little Grover blushed, but Grover laughed with everyone else.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me. I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days in his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

"Somebody wants to impress the teacher," Silena said in a sing-songy voice.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner told me about this subject being life-a-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"Good," Poseidon nodded.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the _Cambridge__Guide__to__Greek__Mythology_across my dorm room.**

Annabeth and Athena gasped in horror.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin Verbs? Forget it.**

All of the demigods nodded. Greek was easy, but latin was different.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. _I__will__accept__only__the__best__from__you,__Percy__Jackson._**

"And I gave my best," Percy whispered, and the future people nodded.

**I took a deep breath. I picked up my mythology book.**

Athena and a certain daughter of hers nodded in approval.

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

Chiron smiled. He really looked forward to meeting this boy in their own time.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice was definitely Grover's said ". . . worries about Percy, sir."**

"Crap," Grover said.

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

Thalia, Nico, and Grover snorted.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"Valid point," Thalia admitted.

"We'd do it anyway," the Stolls grinned, only to be knocked out of their seats by flying pillows.

**I inched closer.**

**". . . alone this summer." Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the _school_! Now that we know for sure, and _they_ know too-"**

"**We****would****only****make****matters****worse****by****rushing****him."****Mr.****Brunner****said.****"We****need****the****boy****to****mature****more."**

Thalia snorted, "Percy still needs to mature," with Nico and Grover nodding in agreement.

"Feelin' the love over here," Percy said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line-"**

"What dead-line?" Artemis asked.

Percy started playing with a water ball, Thalia was fiddling with lightening, Nico was counting ceiling tiles, and Grover was checking his hooves.

"Fine, don't tell us. But we will find out, for I am THE GOD OF PROPHESIES!" a dramatic god who im sure you can guess screamed.

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he _saw_ her . . ."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I . . . I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

"Grover! You did not fail!" Thalia yelled at both Grovers.

Little Grover hung his head in shame, but the older said, "Stop yelling at me! I know that now!"

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"An apt response," Hestia said with a humorous glint in her eyes.

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

"That's good, retreat," the Stolls, Hermes, and Apollo said.

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Why were you out, Chiron?" Katie asked, then said, "Oh," as she realized that he didn't know.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow _clop-clop-clop,_like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat tickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"What happened at the winter solstice?" Hera demanded, but was met by silence, much to her fury.

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn . . ."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

"One good thing about not being a protector anymore," Grover muttered.

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

"So, about five minutes for a demigod with ADHD," Nico concluded.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to get ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

"So that's why you looked like that," Grover said with realization.

**"Just . . . tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression,**

Almost everyone opened their mouths, but Percy said, "I know, satyrs can read emotions."

**and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"They had no idea how much," Percy muttered, thinking about the dreams he had while on this quest.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"THREE HOURS?" the demigods, satyrs, and all but the Big three male gods screamed.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's . . . it's for the best."**

"Ouch, Chiron, ouch," Katie said sympathetically.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic kidding motions with her lips.**

Everyone glared at the book.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean . . ." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"For the love of the gods, Chiron may be able to lie, but you need some work on your inspirational speeches," Thalia chastised.

**My eyes stung.**

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

"Harsh," Clarisse grudgingly admitted.

**"Right." I said, trembling.**

**"," Mr. Brunner said. Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say . . . you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

"I'm sorry, Percy," Chiron winced.

"Its alright, Chiron, I understand now," Percy said with a small smile.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy-"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were _rich_ juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"Nobodies, eh," Poseidon said with an amused expression.

Percy smiled cheekily at his father.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

"With my amazing mother!" Percy shouted.

Poseidon smiled at the air thinking about Sally.

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"Well that was really rude," Demeter said. "Those boys need some muffins."

Everyone groaned.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, **

"That's a shocker," Thalia snorted.

**so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the , I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Grover complained.

"Sorry," Percy smiled sheepishly.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha- what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

"Never confess!" Hermes scolded.

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

"That's what we want to know!" Ares roared.

**He winced. "Look, Percy . . . I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers . . ."**

**"Grover-"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and . . ."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

"Amen!" everyone said.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, **

"Why do you use it then," Artemis asked Dionysus.

"Its fun to watch them try to read it," Dionysus smirked.

**but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800) 009-0009**_

**"What's Half-"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" He yelped. "That's my, um . . . summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"Why not the," the Grovers asked.

"Because you weren't an as- mean person," Percy corrected himself.

**"Okay." I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or . . . or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"Sorry," Percy said, sounding a little ashamed.

"It's alright," Grover said, patting his shoulder.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me.**

"Aww," all the females cooed.

**And here he was acting like he was the one who defended _me._**

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

"Everything, really," Grover admitted, making Poseidon pale.

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

Everyone's noses wrinlked

**The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

_That__sounds__so__familiar_ Hades thought.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

Everyone gasped.

"You saw the fates? How are you still alive," Annabeth looked at Percy in wonder, making him blush.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

All of the people of the future looked sadder, while some thunder rolled outside, it got colder, the fountain on one side almost stopped working, and all of the plants nearby died.

Everyone looked at them in shock, but they were all thinking about whose string it really was.

Luke's.

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Everyone's breath caught.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Not funny, Percy, not funny," little Grover muttered.

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"Listen to him!" Poseidon begged.

**"What?" I said. "It's thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

"Follow Grover you idiot!" Annabeth screamed.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me.**

**The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that _snip_ across four-lanes of traffic.**

Everyone shuddered and gaped at Percy.

"How in the world are you still alive?" Athena demanded.

"Don't want to give away the story," Percy mumbled sadly.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for- Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

Everyone gave a nervous chuckle.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Everything, unfortunately," Grover admitted.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

"Not my fate," Percy whispered so that only the futures could here. (AN- im calling the people of the future, 'futures' now, so I don't have to type it all out, ok?)

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like . . . Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"Much, much worse," Hades whispered.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

Everyone shuddered again.

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.**

"That was very observant," Athena said.

"Uhh… thank you… Lady Athena," Percy stuttered. That was probably the nicest thing she had ever said to him.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

"It's a huge deal!" Katie screamed.

**This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumbs. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"Grover!" Thalia sighed.

Grover held up his hands in surrender.

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me, "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

"Way to keep that," Grover snorted.

Percy looked bashful.

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

Everyone shuddered.

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"No, not your coffin. Your shroud!" Grover teased.

Percy rolled his eyes. "So encouraging."

"Who's next?" Athena asked.

"I will," Zeus offered, surprising everyone. He had been very quiet.

*************AUTHOR'S NOTE TIME PLEASE READ!******************

So, yeah, I tend to post at strange times.

How was it? Im still getting used to having so many characters! Oh, and, clarification-

**Future Annabeth is already set to come in! vote on who else!**

**Past****Percy-**Percy from just at the end of TLT

**Future****Stolls-** same time as the rest of them

**Future****Rachael-** same time as oracle

**Future****Silena****and****Beckendorf-** yes they are dead but SHH! It a secret ;)

**Other**

Oh and ive noticed that my sentences are becoming one bid word and I have no idea why! Sorry about that im working on it.

Please review and let me know! Till next time

-Schocker


	4. Lack of Pants

**"Grover****Unexpectedly****Loses****His****Pants"** Zeus read, then raised an eyebrow.

Both Grovers blushed.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"I really am sorry aout that Grover," Percy apologized to his friend.

Grover just smiled and patted his back.

**I know, I know. It was rude.**

**But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

"That would be really creepy," Beckendorf quietly agreed.

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up,**

Snickers erupted, but Grover told little Grover, "We get better, don't worry."

**so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"SHE IS AMAZING!" Nico, Grover, Thalia and Percy screamed, making Poseidon smile.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,**

The futures nodded happily.

**which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

"What? She has a nice life! other than having you for a son," Nico said.

"Hey!"

"I meant, you're always in danger," Nico sighed.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. **

"Yikes," Hermes frowned.

**She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program.**

"That's good," Athena said hopefully.

**Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

Everyone was shocked.

"Poseidon why didn't you help her," Hera screamed hitting him.

"My mom wouldn't let him," Percy defended his dad. "She wanted to control her own life."

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

Coos rang through the room.

**I don't have memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.**

Percy and his dad smiled at each other.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

Poseidon frowned. He really wanted to come back.

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"Not a lie," Katie said.

"Not the truth, but not a lie," Silena added.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

Thalia, Nico, and Grover seemed to be holding their breaths to refrain from talking.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano,**

The ground shook violently.

"Brother!" Zeus turned to his brother, but was confused when he saw it wasn't Poseidon.

"Percy calm down!" Everyone turned to see a look of terrifying fury on Percy's face.

The futures were screaming at Percy, but he couldn't seem to hear them.

Thalia took a step back, a deep breath, then hit Percy with a strong blast of electricity that blew him into the wall, cracking it.

The futures ran over. Everyone else was frozen in shock.

"Percy, oh my gods, I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do," Thalia apologized.

Percy calmly stood up and said, "No. It's okay Thalia. I lost my temper."

He bowed in front of the gods looking ashamed. "Forgive me, please."

"It's quite alright, hero," Hestia said, after it seemed none of the Olympians would answer.

**who was nice for the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk.**

Percy had a look on his face that was scarier than fury.

The futures only saw this face during the war.

Everyone from the past hadn't truly seen Percy angry, and even the gods were terrified.

He was blank. Not smirking, frowning, scowling, or even looking at anything. His fists were shaking, and it was obvious he was trying not to make another earthquake.

**When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"Ewww," almost everyone in the room groaned.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along . . . well, when I came home is a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

"What a pig," Nico snarled.

"Don't insult the pigs, Nico," Thalia also snarled.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"He asked you for cash?" even Apollo and the Stolls looked angry and disgusted.

**That was it. No _Welcome__back.__Good__to__see__you.__How__has__your__life__been__the__last__six__months?_**

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in a thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

"I really want to wail this guy," Beckendorf said angrily.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." **

"He forced you to give him money," Poseidon snarled. He looked furious.

_And__he__doesn__'__t__even__know__what__he__did__to__my__mother_ Percy thought darkly.

**Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"HE HIT YOU," Poseidon roared.

Percy seemed to be debating something.

"Percy! Tell me! Did. He. Hit. You," Poseidon demanded.

It was so quiet in the throne room, it was difficult to hear Percy's quiet, "Yes."

Everyone in the room looked ready to murder someone. Specifically, Gabe.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

Percy frowned, relieving the futures. He had calmed down some.

Percy frowned, though, remembering why his mother had married Gabe.

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"Hades," many of the gods and goddesses asked.

"Yes?"

"Put him on the list for the Fields of Punishment."

"Already on it," Hades smiled evilly.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"At least _someone_ has some sense," Hera frowned.

**"Am I_right?_" Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

Everyone looked a little green.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"I'll guarantee it," Dionysus and Hermes said in unison.

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study."**

"Yeah right," Athena snorted.

**He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

"I gonna kill him. He's gonna die soon," Athena and Artemis promised.

**I****dropped****my****suitcase****on****the****bed.****Home****sweet****home.** **Gabe's****smell****was****almost****worse****than****the****nightmares****about****Mrs.****Dodds,****or****the****sound****of****that****old****fruit****lady's****shears****snipping****the****yarn.**

Percy frowned again.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic-how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone-something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

Everyone shuddered.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted away.**

Percy smiled for the first time in a while, while the females cooed.

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's been seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"Holy crap, she must e the goddess of patients," Apollo shouted, only half-joking.

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"LUCKY!" the Stolls screamed.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

Ares snickered, but Percy glared at him scarily, and Ares had not forgotten what the boy had done just a while ago.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"**

Thalia started to crackle with electricity, and Nico was pulling shadows towards him. Percy had that scary no-expression face back on.

**I gritted my teeth.**

As did everyone in the room.

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"Or a god," Poseidon suggested.

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

"Must've been an impressive spin," Chris scoffed.

**Until the trip to the museum . . .**

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

"DON'T LIE!" Hermes screamed, and everyone gasped.

"Did you-" the Stolls started.

"Just say not to-," Apollo continued.

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"No it wouldn't Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth screamed.

All of the futures started cracking up, except Percy who was gaping at his future girlfriend's name that she made up for him.

Annabeth blushed, though she didn't know why.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

Percy and Poseidon smiled fondly.

**"Three nights-same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed,"**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

Poseidon growled.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

Everyone looked murderous again.

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"He'd better," Poseidon snarled.

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

"Bribery always works," Hermes nodded. "Though she shouldn't need it," he frowned.

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip . . . it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with the seven-layer dip . . . And maybe if the kid apologized for interrupting my poker game."**

"I'm gonna kill him," Hera said.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

"YES!" everyone roared in approval.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

"Yes why?" Athena screamed, making Percy frown again.

"**I'm****sorry,"****I****muttered.****"I'm****really****sorry****I****interrupted****your****incredibly****important****poker****game.****Please****go****back****to****it****right****now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

Everyone snorted.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about . . . whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes-the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride-as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

Everyone scowled.

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car, he kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camaro- for the whole weekend.**

"What-a-a-a-a… I don't know what to call him. I cant think of a terrible enough insult!" Demeter declared.

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-of-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

"How did you do that," Annabeth asked.

"Percy's powerful," Thalia shrugged, making Percy blush.

"Who cares how? GABE GOT PACKED!" Ares screamed, and everyone laughed.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

"Yes, always escape given the chance," Hermes and the Stolls said approvingly.

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets,**

"So I guess you don't take…you-know-who there?" Thalia asked.

"Voldemort?" Percy asked then dodged a punch. "Kidding, geez. I take her there, it just requires beforehand cleaning."

**and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

"That wouldn't bother you would it?" Katie asked.

**I loved the place.**

"Oh," Katie blushed.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

Poseidon smiled fondly.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"Seriously, what's with the blue food," Zeus demanded.

Hera pointed to the page and Zeus looked a little embarrassed.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

Everyone but Thalia, Nico, and Percy managed to hold in their laughter. Zeus just glared at them.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She brought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano**

"What a perfect name for that _thing_," Beckendorf said, and everyone nodded.

**-was proof she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak like me.**

"Streak?" Nico scoffed.

"If there is a streak in Percy, it'd be an obedient streak," Thalia laughed.

"And a very small one," Grover added.

"Would you rather me obey the rules a certain year with a certain island," Percy said, making Grover pale.

"Never mind, Percy, continue being rebellious."

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk-my father.**

**Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

Poseidon and Percy smiled at each other.

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"They do look a lot alike," Aphrodite commented, and everyone nodded.

**Mom****fished****a****blue****jelly****bean****out****of****her****candy****bag.** **"I****wish****he****could****see****you,****Percy.****He****would****be****so****proud."**

"I am proud," Poseidon smiled.

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? **

"A lot!" Annabeth screamed, making Percy blush.

**A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean . . . when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But . . . he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember . . . something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

"I did visit you," Poseidon told Percy, receiving glares from the other Olympians, but he ignored them.

**I have always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still. I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never seen me . . .**

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

Poseidon looked sad, and Percy said, "I'm sorry, Dad."

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think . . . I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"PERCY!" the room screamed.

"Sorry," he said shamefacedly.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"Better have ungrateful little demigod…" Hera's mumblings faded out.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I _have_ to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that it was the best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

"Good thing she didn't tell me, or I would never have left camp for anything," Percy said, but his friends knew he would leave for his friends.

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under is broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"Why is one of your children stalking Percy," Apollo asked, confused.

"To make sure he was ok," Poseidon said.

**Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

"Holy crap, Percy, you are AWESOME!" the Stolls shouted.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword.**

Everyone shuddered at the reminder.

**But I couldn't make myself to tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"Just to stay close to mommy," Athena snorted.

But the half-bloods understood. If they were in that situation, they weren't sure what they would do.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just . . . I just can't stand to do it."**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

"Not a school," Silena corrected. "A summer camp."

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"That was weird," Silena said giggling.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born-talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp . . ."**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked any more questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

The demigods all groaned.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"Why are you two fighting so viciously?" Demeter wanted to know.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

"Hades," everyone looked to him. He shrugged.

The futures shuddered. "He was in your dreams that early?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah," Percy frowned.

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, _No!_**

"YES I WIN!" Zeus threw the book aside and the thunder roared outside.

"And you think I'm dramatic," Percy snickered.

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

"Yes, why did you forget, uncle?" Apollo asked, making Artemis smack him upside the head.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't . . . he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"What was I?" little Grover asked, afraid.

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

**_"O__Zeu__kai__alloi__theoi!"_he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

Zeus rumbled, but Thalia said, "DAD!" so the thunder calmed and Zeus grumbled.

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on-and where his legs should be . . . where his legs should be . . .**

"WHAT HAPPENED TO GROVER!" the Stolls screamed.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: _"Percy._ Tell me _now!"_**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. _Go!"_**

**Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet.**

**There were cloven hooves.**

"FINALLY!" Apollo screamed.

"How about a lunch break?" Hestia suggested and everyone agreed.

"We'll be back in an hour," Hades said.

******************AUTHOR'S NOTE, PLEASE VOTE*************

So… am I the only one that noticed that totally rhymed?

Anyways, YAY! Im debating a lunch scene. Maybe Percy/Aphrodite talk? I know lots of people do it but, it is essential.

**Vote!**

**It seems to be between**

**Past Percy-from just the end of the first book**

**Rachel-oracle,****post-war,****you****know****(And****thanks****to**Leo-Valdez-is-so-HOT **for****telling****me****how****to****spell****Rachel****'****s****name.)**

**Past****or****Future****Sally-****please****specify,****don****'****t****just****say****either,****because****its****quite****the****difference**

**Im****not****sure****if****it****'****s****still****doing****that****annoying****thing****where****it****crams****the****sentence****into****one****word,****but****we****'****ll****see****eh?**

**Till****next****chapter**

**-Schocker**


	5. Lunch with memories

**Disclaimer- I do not own PJO- Rick Riordan does.**

**Percy POV **(AN- I have decided that ill be putting things in people's POV from now on. If anyone objects, please tell me why)

We all slowly filed out of the throne room, and into the kitchen, where, despite the fact that the gods eat and drink ambrosia and nectar, there was a pantry and refrigerator filled with food.

Now I had been in the kitchen before, but never before the war, and I saw it just after Annabeth redesigned it.

Annabeth…

I hope she joined us soon. I already missed her, and the thought of being here so long without her hurt me.

I saw Aphrodite's head whip around to me. Crap, she must have felt me thinking about Annabeth.

I quickly joined all the other demigods.

"Hey, Percy," Beckendorf greeted. It hurt to look at him. If I had just-

NO! Remember what Nico told you, I berated myself. Beckendorf doesn't blame me.

I realized I was still looking at Beckendorf with a weird look on my face. Thalia noticed and put a hand on my shoulder.

I looked away and blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Its so weird being here before Olympus was redone."

Thalia, Nico, and my Grover nodded, but everyone else stopped moving.

"What did you just say," Zeus asked.

"Uhh," I stumbled. I hadn't meant to give the war away.

"Answer me," he rumbled.

"I…cant. Ill spoil so much for you," I grasped for an excuse.

Zeus suddenly looked like a pouting child.

"But-"

"No," I cut him off.

But Athena persisted. "What would destroy Olympus?"

I looked away feeling my face contort into pain, and seeing my friends from the future looking the same.

It had only been two weeks since the war ended. So many of our friends had died.

I looked up, my heart heavy. Athena was waiting for the answer, though she now looked afraid of it.

"You'll find out," I said shortly.

"But it would be much quicker-,"

"No," I whispered. I went to sit next to Thalia, who had her head in her hands.

After a while, everyone continued their conversations. Every now and then, someone would throw a concerned look our way.

After a while, I felt better and joined in on the conversation, as did my future friends.

"So, Percy, do you have a girlfriend?" Silena asked.

Nico, Thalia, and Grover started to laugh at me as I choked on a potato chip.

"Uhh…yeah," I said hesitantly.

"Ooh! Who is it," she squealed.

It was just as difficult to look at her as Beckendorf, but I pushed my thoughts aside.

Before I could answer, Grover did.

"You'll know after a while. It seemed like everyone did but them for 5 years!" he chuckled.

"Seriously, even after being a tree for 7 years, I could tell instantly," Thalia snorted.

"Thanks, guys," I grumbled as everyone laughed.

I could see Annabeth in the corner looking a little disheartened. I whispered it to Thalia and we both started cracking up.

I saw Silena open her mouth to question me, but to my relief, my dad called for everyone to continue reading.

******************AUTHOR'S NOTE** PLEASE VOTE********

Yeah, so, I don't know why I am so dramatic, but come on, it has only been two weeks. They'll be surly, because that's how I want them to be!

I didn't want to spoil it but people are bugging me so Annabeth will be here in two chapters!

THIS WHOLE LETTERS SQUISHING TOGETHER THING IS PISSING ME OFF AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FIX IT!

Anywho- vote please!

**Past Sally- Sally who just became pregnant with Percy.**

**Future Sally- post TLO**

**Past Percy- just after the end of TLT**

**Rachel- oracle, post TLO you know**

**Lemme know guys!**

**-Schocker**


	6. Mom fighting bulls

**Annabeth's POV**

We all walked into the throne room and sat down. Though no one mentioned it, I could feel everyone wanting to know what Percy had said earlier.

But that look on their faces…it was horrible.

I shook my head and thought of something else, but my mind drifted back to Percy.

He had a girlfriend. I wonder if I knew her. I probably did. She was a lucky girl. Percy was obviously brave, and strong, and cute, and-

I almost didn't hear Travis start reading next to me.

"**My****mother****teaches****me****bullfighting"**

I saw Percy flinch. This must not be good.

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

"I like how this lady drives," Ares approved.

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

"Seriously? Shag-carpet pants?" my mom asked sarcastically.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo— lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

"I do not!" both Grover's screamed.

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"**

"Of course that's what you would ask first," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rear view mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"GROVER YOU STALKER!" the Stolls screamed.

**"Watching me?"**

"STAL-,"

"WE GET IT!" Katie screamed, cutting off Travis.

I heard Nico say, "Some things never change," making the other future kids snicker.

**"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I _am_your friend."**

"Still are," Percy smiled.

**"Urn ... what _are_you, exactly?"**

"Subtle," Chris laughed.

**"That doesn't matter right now."**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"**

"That'll piss him off," Beckendorf laughed quietly.

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty _"Blaa-ha-ha!"_**

Past Grover did the same.

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

"And I have every right to be irritated!" Grover yelled, then opened his mouth again to continue yelling.

"Cool your beans, Goat Boy," Thalia yelled, shutting Grover up.

"'Cool your beans'," Nico sniggered.

"Oh, bite me, Death Breath."

**"Goat!" he cried.**

**"What?"**

**"I'm a _goat_from the waist down."**

"You just said it didn't matter," I said.

**"You just said it didn't matter."**

I blushed while everyone laughed.

_**"Blaa-ha-ha!**_ **There****are****satyrs****who****would****trample****you****underhoof****for****such****an****insult!"**

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

**"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a _myth,_Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

**"So you _admit_there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"Why are you still hung up on Mrs. Dodds?" I asked, irritated.

He scowled and said, "I spent months believing Mrs. Dodds may or may not have been a figment of my imagination, thinking I had gone crazy! So I was a little relieved when I heard she was real!"

"Oh," I said quietly.

**"Of course."**

**"Then why—"**

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

**"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

"And that, ladies and gentleman, is the million dollar question," Percy said in an announcer voice.

"Be quiet, Kelp Head!" Thalia and Nico said simultaneously.

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

Everyone leaned forward a little.

**"Percy," my mom said, "There's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

"Everybody," Percy snorted, making Poseidon look worried.

**"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

"Grover!" much of the room yelled.

"Sorry," Big Grover mumbled sheepishly.

**"Grover!"**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**

Thalia and Nico snorted.

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

"Almost there, almost there, almost there," Poseidon chanted.

**"Where are we going?" I asked.**

**"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

**"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

"Take it more seriously!" my mom screamed, but he seemed used to it, like my mother yelled at him all the time.

**"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."**

"Grover!"

"Sorry!"

**"Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

**"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

**"You meant 'you.' As in _me._"**

**"I meant _you,_like 'someone.' Not you, _you._"**

"Uhh," Apollo scratched his head. "What?"

**"Boys!" my mom said.**

"Thank you!" Artemis said.

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

"What was that," Silena asked.

**"What was that?" I asked.**

Everyone looked at her weird.

**"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question.**

**"Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

"Please, please, please," I heard Poseidon begging as well.

**I didn't know where _there_was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

Everyone started to lean in.

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really _hadn't_been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

"No shit, Sherlock!" Nico screamed, making Percy glare at him.

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling _boom!,_and our car exploded.**

"WHAT!" Poseidon screamed, his voice passing into another octave. "What happened!"

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**

"Ouch," the Stolls chorused.

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

**"Percy!" my mom shouted.**

**"I'm okay..."**

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning.**

"ZEUS!" Poseidon screamed, rising to face his brother. Then a giant wave appeared out of nowhere and shoved Poseidon down into his seat.

I looked over and Percy was standing with his arms raised. The water seemed to evaporate, and Percy said, "Dad, calm down, im right here. We don't want another war."

"What other war is there," my mother asked quickly.

The question seemed to take Percy by surprise, but he answered, "World War II."

It was obvious nobody believed him, but no one asked further.

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

Big Grover grimaced. "I'm not good for anything."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Percy beat me, saying, "Grover this was _not_ your fault! And you have saved my life so many times! There isn't any way you could convince me that you are useless."

Big Grover seemed cheered at that.

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

"That's sweet…sort of," Silena said.

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

Everyone laughed, and both Grovers blushed.

**"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

Many people gaped at him.

"How did you survive the minotaur," Ares asked.

"Without training," Hephaestus rumbled.

Percy sort of shrugged, then motioned for Travis to keep reading.

**I swallowed hard. "Who is—"**

**"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

**"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

"Hey look, its me," Thalia said with bitter sarcasm.

_**"What?"**_

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

**"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

"Oh no," Poseidon moaned. Mrs. Jackson wouldn't be able to come.

**"Mom, you're coming too."**

"She cant," Hestia said sadly.

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**

Poseidon moaned louder.

**"No!" I shouted. "You _are_coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

**"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

"Grover be quiet!" Katie chastised.

**The man with the blanket on his head**

Everyone shook their heads.

**kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he _couldn't_be holding a blanket over his head,**

"Finally!" I couldn't help but shout.

**because his hands—huge meaty hands—were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns …**

"Are horns," Nico said slowly.

Percy pushed him off the couch.

**"He doesn't want _us_," my mother told me. "He wants _you._Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

**"But..."**

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

**I got mad, then—mad at my mother, at Grover the goat,**

"I'm only _half_ goat!"

**at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"It is a bull!" Grover shouted.

"Only half bull," Percy mimicked.

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

**"I told you—"**

**"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

Hera and Artemis nodded in approval. They obviously liked Percy's devotion to his mother.

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

"Why not," Travis asked.

Katie rolled his eyes. "Because, 'surprisingly light' just means that something is lighter than you thought, but it doesn't mean it isn't heavy," she explained.

"Oh," Travis said.

The future people were snickering again.

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

"You really need to mow that grass," Demeter said.

Everyone groaned.

"Chiron, you need to teach these kids how to work the land, farming all kind of things, like wheat and other grains! Especially wheat. Wheat is good for muffins! And cereal!" she paused.

"Hmm. Cereal," she mused.

The futures groaned.

"I cant believe this is what started it," Nico said incredulously.

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of _Muscle__Man_magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under wear**

"Uhhh. That's kind of nasty," Katie said, wrinkling her nose.

**I****mean,****bright****white****Fruit****of****the****Looms**—**which****would've****looked****funny,**

"Still does," Apollo and Hermes snickered.

**except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

"Ewww," most girls chorused.

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

"Oh my gods, Percy, you would think of something like that at a time like this," Thalia groaned.

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

"He is," the Stolls chorused.

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"**

**"Pasiphae's son," my mother said.**

My mom looked impressed.

**"I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

"Super reassuring," Percy said sarcastically.

**"But he's the Min—"**

**"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

Many of the other Olympians looked impressed now.

**The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.**

"Percy, you are so pessimistic," Thalia tsked.

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

**"Food?" Grover moaned.**

"Grover, be quiet!"

**"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

**"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

"I like her," my mother decided, and many other gods agreed.

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

**_Not__a__scratch,_I remembered Gabe saying.**

**Oops.**

The room exploded into laughter.

**"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way— directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

"Very smart," Artemis nodded her approval.

**"How do you know all this?"**

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

Many half-bloods winced.

**"Keeping me near you? But—"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

"Crap," Thalia and Nico chorused.

**He'd smelled us.**

"Double crap."

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us. My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

Poseidon nodded at Mrs. Jackson's orders, bobbing his head up and down.

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

"Gross," "Nasty," and "Eww," were chorused throughout the room.

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing.**

At least he has some sense, I thought.

**So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

Ares seemed to nod in approval.

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

"OH FU-,"

"NICO!"

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

"STOP BEING PESSIMISTIC!"

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eying my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

"Son of a b-,"

"Thalia!"

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

"Nonononononononono," Poseidon muttered.

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

"NO!" the room screamed.

**"Mom!"**

Percy had a strange look on his face. Like even though he knew this happens, it still hurt him.

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone.**

"SALLY!" Poseidon bellowed, then broke into sobs.

Percy seemed to debate something, then walked over to his father and whispered in his ear.

Poseidon, sobbed still, but more quietly.

**"No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

"You needed that a few minutes ago," Connor said, making everyone glare at him.

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

Big Grover winced.

**I couldn't allow that.**

All the goddesses smiled at Percy. I could tell they admired his loyalty.

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

"Oh, gods," the future kids grumbled.

**"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

Many people shuddered.

**I had an idea**

"Crap."

—**a****stupid****idea,**

"CRAP!"

**but better than no idea at all.**

**I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

"Oh, of course not," Chris scowled.

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

"Nice try, Prissy," Clarisse scowled.

All the futures started laughing about something.

**Time slowed down.**

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

A shocked silence.

**How did I do that?**

"That's what we want to know," Travis exclaimed.

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

"So _that__'__s_ what hit me," Thalia wondered.

"You felt that," I asked, surprised.

"Of course. Just because im a tree, doesn't mean I cant feel when a giant half bull man crashes into me."

**bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

Everyone wrinkled their noses.

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

"And thank the gods for that!" Percy yelled.

"Your welcome," Apollo snickered. Artemis knocked him upside the head.

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

**"Food!" Grover moaned.**

"Sorry," the Grovers blushed crimson.

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. **

"Not gonna happen kid," Ares dismissed.

**The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—_snap!_**

"You were saying," Percy asked.

Ares grumbled.

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

"So that's what's hanging in your cabin," Nico said.

**The monster charged.**

"You're screwed," Beckendorf said.

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

"Er," Beckendorf muttered.

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone.**

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Whoa," Hermes said, and everyone agreed.

Percy looked embarrassed, and said, "It wasn't that big of a deal."

Everyone just kind of stared at him.

"Well, compared to other things you have done, you are absolutely right," Big Grover said.

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. **

"I would imagine that's uncomfortable," Apollo joked.

**I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.**

Percy and Grover smiled at each other.

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.**

"I AM SO GONNA TELL HER YOU SAID THAT!"

"Oh, gods, im so dead," Percy paled.

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

Nico looked like he was going to say something but Percy clamped a hand around his mouth.

**"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside.**

Everyone stared at Percy, who was looking anxiously at my mother.

As soon as she opened her mouth there was a _crack!_ And the scream of a girl from the very top of the room.

******************AUTHOR'S NOTE***************PLEASE VOTE******************

YAY! I think we all know who it is that's arriving. So im not sure if the words stickong together is still going on, but we'll see, wont we. Yeah…so…Vote!

**Past Sally- Sally who just became pregnant with Percy.**

**Future Sally- post TLO**

**Past Percy- just after the end of TLT**

**Rachel- oracle, post TLO you know**

**Lemme know guys!**

**-Schocker**


	7. Pinochle and Horses

**Annabeth's POV**

As the scream grew louder, Percy's eyes seemed to widen in recognition.

With a strangled cry, he leapt out of his seat, and sprinted to the middle of the room, where he caught a girl with golden curls like me.

Percy was grinning like an idiot, with love in his eyes. This must be his girlfriend. For some reason I felt a pang of jealousy.

The girls face was hidden by her curls, but her voice sounded familiar for some reason.

"Thanks for catching me Seaweed Brain, but could you put me down?"

Seaweed Brain? Isn't that what _I_called Percy? What a weird coincidence.

"What if I don't want to," Percy said playfully.

I could feel the forceful glare, but it just made Percy laugh.

He dropped the girl to her feet, where her face was still covered by her hair.

Percy quickly said, "We've been sent back in time to read about our adventures, with the gods and some past demigods."

_Our_adventures? She must be in the books.

"When are we," she asked.

"The winter solstice after Thalia was turned into a tree."

The girl looked at the future demigods who walked over and smiled, greeting her.

The girl turned to the gods, and they let out a collective gasp. "What?" she demanded.

"Oh, yeah, er, you're here. Like, past you," Percy explained.

The girl turned to face us and we all gasped.

She was very pretty, with golden locks framing her face and stormy gray eyes that could only belong to a daughter of Athena. But that wasn't what startled me the most.

She was me.

She studied me and a smile played across her face. "You know, I was really cute," she decided after a while.

"That's what we said!" Nico, Thalia, and Percy said.

"You have to introduce yourself. Full title," Percy put emphasis on the last part and understanding flickered across my-her- big me's face.

"Well if you haven't figured it out-Connor-,"

"HEY!"

"I am Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Architect of Olympus," she said then waited for the room to explode into questions.

Which it did.

"WHY WOULD WE NEED AN ARCHITECT?"

"WHEN DID YOU GET HOT!"

"ARE YOU DATING PERCY!"

After everyone settled down, Annabeth said, "You will learn everything in the books."

The future people walked back to their couch where they sat down, Big me next to Percy, who put his arm around her.

"RELEASE MY DAUGHTER, SEA SPAWN!"

Percy scooted over so fast he fell off the side of the couch. Big me clamped a hand over her mouth.

I thought she was shocked, or angry, but then I realized she was holding back laughter. The other futures snickered with Big me.

"C'mon Seaweed Brain," she giggled, pulling him up to sit with her, placing a peck on his lips and settling into his arms, turning my mom a pretty shade of purple.

I was shocked. How in the world would I date Percy?

"So," Poseidon cleared his throat, "who want to read next?"

"I will," Dionysus offered.

"You?" Nico gaped.

"Want to participate?" Silena asked, startled.

He must be joking. He never, ever wants to do anything, except play pinochle, even though Chiron always beats him.

"Yes! I can do as I please!" he snapped, swiping the book from Travis' hands.

He cleared his throat.

**"I Play Pinochle With A Horse." **

**I had weird dreams **

"Ooh, that's new," Big Grover rolled his eyes.

**full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

"Hey, like Grover!" the Stolls snickered.

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered-popcorn, only it was pudding.**

**The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me,**

"Seriously? 'The blonde girl?' You heard Chiron call me by my name!" Big me said to Percy, who rolled his eyes.

**smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

Like she was now.

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

"Why would you think he knew something?" Thalia asked.

Big me blushed and mumbled something like, "I don't know, I just wanted to know."

**I managed to choke, "What?"**

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

"Stolen?" most of the room muttered.

I saw Percy slowly disengage himself from Big me, and Thalia scooted closer.

I suddenly made the connection. 'The Lightning Thief'? I also realized why the futures shifted their positions.

I looked up at Zeus, suddenly terrified of what would do when he realized. I could practically see the light bulb over his head.

"YOU STOLE MY BOLT!" he screamed, then shot a bolt of lightning at him.

Thalia stepped in front and with a huge flash, she was angrily standing, unfazed.

"Father, you would know if Percy stole it. The book is in first person!"

Zeus looked a little sheepish, and nodded.

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't . . ."**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding. **

"Definitely one way to shut him up," the Stolls chimed, trying to lighten the mood.

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

"AWWW! HE MISSES YOU ALREADY!" Aphrodite squealed/screamed.

**A husky dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes-at least a dozen of them-on his cheeks, his forehead, the back of his hands.**

All of the demigods smiled at the thought of Argus.

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surrounding, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries.**

**There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.**

**My hand was so weak. I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

**"Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week.**

"Actually, it was just three days," Grover admitted.

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover. Not the goat boy.**

"Not you too!" the Grovers moaned.

"Shut it, Goat Boy!"

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And . . .**

"Unfortunately, this is not the case," Artemis said sadly.

**"You saved my life," Grover said. "I . . . well, the least I could do . . . I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

Percy snorted. "That would have been a happy dream compared to some dreams I've had."

**"The Minotaur," I said.**

Big me opened her mouth, then Percy said, "Remember Seaweed Brain, names have power!"

Everyone laughed while Big me lightly slapped him.

**"Um, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"**

**"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur, Half man, half bull."**

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really . . ."**

**He looked down.**

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

"I'm always beautiful!" Thalia said jokingly.

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

"Aww," the goddesses cooed, and Percy just smiled.

**"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm-I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

"NO YOU ARE NOT!" I screamed, but you could barely hear me over the future demigods.

"Grover you need to have more confidence!" Big me said.

"Yeah, we would be much worse off without you!" Percy added.

Big Grover just smiled and Grover blushed beat red.

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

**"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.**

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs.**

"Understandably," Nico muttered.

**All that meant was my mom had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

Everyone frowned.

**I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with . . . Smelly Gabe?**

"No," Poseidon snarled. "I would never allow it."

**No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets fist. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army.**

**I'd do something.**

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid-poor goat, satyr, whatever**

"You are hopeless," Big Grover sighed, and Percy just shrugged.

**-looked as if he expected to be hit.**

"Well, I was," Grover admitted.

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to _protect_ you."**

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least . . . I was. Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here."**

**He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste, **

"But nectar is awesome!" the demigods screamed, with most of the gods nodding in agreement.

**because I was expecting apple juice. **

"Oh, uh," most of the room muttered awkwardly.

**It wasn't that at all. It was my chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies-but my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the ships still melting.**

"Oh my gods, your mother makes the greatest cookies in the world," Nico drooled and the others nodded.

**Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

Percy smiled slightly, which was kind of confusing.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

"Nectar is weird like that," Hermes said, and everyone but the satyrs and Chiron nodded.

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

**"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

**"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

"No! That's not what I meant. I just…wondered," Grover said.

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just . . . wondered."**

"Looks like you wont change much in five years," Beckendorf laughed quietly.

**"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."**

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

**"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

"Is that good?" Chris asked.

"For me? Yes. For Nancy? No," Percy laughed.

**"That's good," He said. "That's good, I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."**

**"What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

"That first look is always the best," Big me said.

"Now more than ever," Thalia added.

"Why," my mother demanded.

Percy shook his head sadly. "Spoilers," he said in a half-hearted voice.

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture**

"Because it is." Big me and I chimed.

**-an open-air pavilion, and amphitheater, a circular arena- except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.**

"I thought you love pegasi," Thalia asked.

Percy snorted and said, "I didn't even know the gods were real at this point."

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl **

"SERIOUSLY, STILL!"

**who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

**The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hairs so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels-what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turn middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in one of Gabe's poker party**

Mr. D's eyes flashed murderously, and he threw a knife at Percy, who quickly drew Riptide and deflected it.

Mr. D started hurling more knives, and we were shocked as Percy deflected them as if they were nothing.

"Percy can do this for hours, Mr. D, and I really want to keep going," Big me called in a slightly bored voice.

The god grumbled and stopped.

**, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step father.**

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT!"

"Children, Dionysus!" Hera scolded.

**"That's Mr. D." Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite.**

**The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper,**

"_Just__a__camper,__"_ Big me scowled.

**but she's been here longer than just about anybody.**

"Eight years is quite a long time," Thalia nodded.

**And you already know Chiron . . ."**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice B.**

"Nice," the Stolls high-fived.

**"Ah, good, Percy. Now we have four for pinochle."**

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh.**

**"Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

"Dionysus! You were sent there to help the children!" Zeus yelled, and Mr. D cowered.

**"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was something I had learned from living with Gabe, it as how to tell when an adult had been hitting the happy juice.**

Mr. D growled.

**If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

Everyone laughed and Mr. D glared at Percy.

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us.**

**"This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She****was****probably****my****age,****maybe****a****couple****of****inches****taller,****and****a****whole****lot****more****athletic****looking.****With****her****deep****tan****and****her****curly****blond****hair,****she****was****almost****exactly****what****I****thought****a****stereotypical****California****girl****would****look****like,** **except****her****eyes****ruined****the****image.**

"What do you mean, ruined?" Big me scowled.

"Let's face it Wise Girl, they _are_ intimidating," Percy defended.

Big me was quiet for a moment, then nodded, obviously accepting the answer.

**They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

Big me blushed and muttered, "I was."

**She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, _You__killed__a__minotaur!__or__Wow,__you're__so__awesome!__or__something__like__that._**

"When pigs fly," Thalia snorted.

The futures looked at her and she said, "Oh yeah…"

They all smiled grimly.

"Aww, we wanna know!" the Stolls whined.

"Uggh no you don't," Percy moaned, looking like he was reminiscing.

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

…

The room exploded into laughter

"I don't anymore!" Percy defended.

"Oh calm down, Kelp Head," Thalia laughed.

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.**

**"So," I said, anxious to change the subject, "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. **

"What's a pseudonym?" Silena stumbled over the word.

"A name someone makes up to hide their true identity," Percy recited.

Everyone gaped at him.

"What? Spend enough time around Annabeth and you're bound to learn something!"

Big me was struggling with not laughing.

**You may call me Chiron."**

**"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D . . . does that stand for something?"**

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

**"Oh. Right, Sorry."**

**"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

"I definitely haven't made a house call in a very long time," Chiron said thoughtfully.

**"House call?"**

**"My****year****at****Yancy****Academy,****to****instruct****you.****We****have****satyrs****at****most****schools,****of****course,****keeping****a****lookout.****But****Grover****alerted****me****as****soon****as****he****met****you.****He****sensed****you****were****something****special,****so****I****decided****to****come****upstate.** **I****convinced****the****other****Latin****teacher****to****.****.****.****ah,****take****a****leave****of****absence."**

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

"What did you do to him," Percy asked.

"I-uh, just… convinced him to find work in another country," Chiron muttered the last part.

**"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

"And the ego begins!" Nico laughed.

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."**

I thought I heard Percy mutter something like, "Not even a test later on."

**"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

**"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

"**You**___**do**_**know****how****to****play****pinochle?"****Mr.****D****eyes****me****suspiciously.**

**"I'm afraid not," I said.**

**"I'm afraid not, _sir,_" he said.**

**"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

_Me__too_ I thought. The Stolls said it out loud and were trapped in vines in seconds.

**"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all_civilized_ young men to know the rules."**

**"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

**"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron-why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"**

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

**The camp director dealt the cards, Grover flinched every time one landed on his pile.**

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.**

"Still are," Thalia snorted.

"What do you mean," Chiron asked.

"Well," Nico answered, "Percy and Annabeth are your favorites. No denying it."

Percy and Big me blushed.

**"Percy," he said. "Did you mother tell you nothing?"**

**"She said . . ." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

**"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. **

Everyone glared so forcefully at the wine god, he shriveled into his corner.

**Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

"Oh, so that's why you were such an airhead," Big me laughed.

**"Orientation film?" I asked.**

**"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"-he pointed to the horn in the shoe box-"that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either lad.**

"Especially twice," Nico snorted.

"NICO!" Percy smacked him upside the head.

"When do you beat him the second time?" Ares asked excitedly.

They all darkened again. What is making them so sad? Did someone die?

"You'll find out," Big me said in an emotionless voice.

**What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very much alive."**

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, _No!_ But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

"Mr. D is actually going to win?" Silena asked.

Mr. D leaned forward looking extremely hopeful, until Percy said, "Of course not."

**"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, can I have your Diet Coke can?"**

**"Eh? Oh, all right."**

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

**"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."**

**"Well, now," Chiron said. "God-capital _G_, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"**

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

"SMALLER!" the Olympians boomed.

"I'm not the one who said it!" Percy said as many glared at him.

**"Smaller?"**

**"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

**"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

**And there it was again-distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

**"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

**"But they're stories," I said. "They're-myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

"Oh," many of the half-bloods groaned. We all knew Mr. D wouldn't like that.

"**Science!"****Mr.****D****scoffed.****"And****tell****me,****Perseus****Jackson"-I****flinched****when****he****said****my****real****name,****which****I****never****told****anybody-**

**"What will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo.**

**That's what. Oh, I love mortals-they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come _so-o-o_ far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if . . . he wasn't. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

"YES I DESERVE RESPECT BOY!" Mr. D screamed, obviously not happy with Percy.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that _immortal_ mean immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

"It's not that bad," Apollo defended.

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, **

"Then how come-," Thalia clamped a hand around Nico's mouth.

"What? What was he going to say?" Hera demanded.

"Spoilers," Thalia smiled cheekily.

**but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

**"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

**"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call _you_a myth,**

"People already do," Big me snorted.

Percy blushed as we all stared at him.

**just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

"Dude, Chiron, that was a low blow," Travis groaned.

"Sorry, Percy," Chiron winced.

"S'okay," Percy mumbled.

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him.**

"That's a first," Thalia muttered.

"Shut up, my temper has saved our asses plenty of times," Percy snapped.

**"I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

**"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

**"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe!"**

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

"DIONYSUS!" Zeus roared.

"S-s-s-sorry father," Mr. D quivered.

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

**"Mr. D, he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

"Oh yeah, reaaaally surprised," Silena giggled quietly next to me, making me fight a smile.

**"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

**More thunder.**

**Mr. D waved his hand again and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

Mr. D grumbled something about how Zeus and Poseidon broke the oath.

**"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

"SPACE COKE!" the Stolls screamed. Silena and Katie rolled their eyes and slapped them both.

**"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time. Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time-well, she was pretty, and I couldn't stay away-the second time. He sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha! Absolutely unfair."**

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

Mr. D's eyes flashed murderously, but the other Olympians were laughing, and we demigods were trying to cover our sniggers.

**"And . . ." I stammered, "your father is . . ."**

**"Di _immortals,_ Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs seemed to work here. They way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

**"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

"DON'T THROW MY NAME AROUND AS IF IT HAS NO MEANING!"

I swear I saw Percy roll his eyes.

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, "Well, duh!'?"**

**"Y-yes, Mr. D."**

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

**"You're a god."**

**"Yes, child."**

**"A god. You."**

"Surprising, I know," Zeus chuckled.

Mr. D mumbled something about unfair punishment.

"What was that?" Zeus held a hand up to his ear.

Mr. D made a strange _eep!_ sound and squeaked, "Nothing!"

**He turned to look at me straight on and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

"Dionysus," Poseidon growled dangerously.

**"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

"**No.****No,****sir."**

"You got Percy to say sir?" Big me gaped.

"IT'S A MIRACLE!" Thalia screamed.

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

Everyone's jaw dropped.

"Mr. D…won?" Katie said like the word was foreign.

Mr. D actually leapt out of his chair and screamed, "FINALLY!"

**"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

Mr. D looked crestfallen and slumped back into his seat.

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher.**

"I am," said god pouted miserably.

**He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need a talk, _again_, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."**

Grover paled, but Big Grover, Big me, and Percy smiled. I guessed something good was going to happen.

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes sir."**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

"CABIN ELEVEN, OWW!" the Stolls screamed.

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been . . . ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."**

**"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a place there?"**

I just barely heard Percy whisper in Big me's ear, "And it looks even better now, Wise Girl."

I saw Big me struggling to keep a smile down.

**"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

"Some more than others," Apollo said, casting a not-very discreet glance at Mr. D, who just glared.

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like . . . in _America?_"**

"Seaweed Brain, you are so slow," Big me laughed.

"Well I know I'm not the smartest, that's you, but I'm not that dumb," he defended.

Both Big me and I smiled at his 'Annabeth is the smartest' comment.

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the west."**

**"The what?"**

"Ugg now we gotta listen to the speech," Apollo and the Stolls whined.

"Well, if no one interrupts Mr. D's reading, then it'll go fast, alright?" Big me suggested, and everyone nodded.

"Yes so KEEP YOUR TRAP SHUT," Zeus ordered.

**"Come on, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied to tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know-or as I hope you know, since you passed my course-the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps-Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on-but the same forces, the same gods."**

I saw some of the gods shift uncomfortably when the Romans were mentioned.

Strange.

**"And then they died."**

The whole room groaned.

"QUIET!" Zeus shouted.

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in painting, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United states. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus and Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not-and believe me, plenty of people weren't very found or Rome, either-America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

**It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of some club.**

"Yes, it's the 'We Kick Ass' club," Nico snickered.

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who . . . who am I?"**

"You're Percy Jackson son of Poseidon!" Apollo laughed.

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah I GOT IT!" Percy said quickly.

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

"Adore isn't the right word," I giggled.

"Like, crave, want, to be happy with," Athena read off like a thesaurus.

"I was thinking more like, completely in love and obsessed with," Big me laughed.

**And he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear,**

The room burst into laughter.

Chiron and Percy both blushed, but laughed along.

**but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof.**

"Well I do like to keep my hooves clean," Chiron sniffed.

**Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

"I always did wonder why you never moved that blanket," Percy admitted.

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

**"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep, Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"Alright, I have done my time and will probably never do it again," Mr. D announced.

"Ill read," Big me offered. Mr. D threw the book at her.

"I cant wait to hear all about my kids from an outsiders point of view!" Hermes said excitedly.

The demigods of the future all gasped and Nico chimed, "Shit!"

They started having a whispered conversation that even I couldn't hear, and I was right next to them.

"No, we aren't telling them. Who knows what they'll do," Percy said with finality.

"Tell us what?" Hermes asked, confused.

"But Percy," Nico argued, looking more serious then I had ever seen him.

"No, Nico. They'll learn soon enough," Percy sighed in a way that made him seem older, too old for him.

"WHAT?" Zeus boomed.

"Just read, please, Annabeth," Thalia sighed sadly.

Hermes looked very concerned, but Big me cleared her throat.

**I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom.**

*************************LINE BREAK**********************

COUGH COUGH *dodges flying fruit* well this is awkward. Sorry it took me forever to update.

Uhh. Forgive me?

So, I think our next character has been decided, and will arrive in two chapters. That means the one after the next.

ANYWHO last chance to vote!

**Rachel-oracle and all**

**Past Sally- just got preggers with Percy**

**Future Sally- post TLO yadda yadda**

**DECIDE!**

Till next time

-Schocker


	8. Percy Jackson, Lord of the Bathroom

**Declaimer-though I am from Texas, I am not a middle aged man! Therefor, PJO doesn't belong to me….but I'm working on it.**

Poseidon POV

**"I****Become****Supreme****Lord****of****the****Bathroom"** Big Annabeth read.

Percy chuckled evilly, actually sending shivers down my spine.

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse,**

"Sorry!"

Chiron huffed.

**we****had****a****nice****tour,****though****I****was****careful****not****to****walk****behind****him.****I'd****done****pooper-scooper****patrol****in****the****Macy's****Thanksgiving** **Day****Parade****a****few****times,****and,****I'm****sorry,****but****I****did****not****trust****Chiron's****back****end****the****way****I****trusted****his****front.**

"My gods, Kelp Head, way to let Chiron know," Thalia laughed.

"Well it is _my_head, and I had no idea it would be made a book, let alone read to everyone here," Percy defended.

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's _him_."**

"Why was everyone pointing at you?" Apollo asked slowly.

Artemis hit him and said, "He just walked into camp after defeating the Minotaur with his bare hands."

I almost thought I heard some admiration in her voice, but I quickly brushed it aside. After all, it _is_Artemis.

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, **

All of the future children snorted loudly, other than my son.

"Yeah, right," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Percy, you hate attention," Big Annabeth added.

"You always try to downplay everything you do," Nico added.

"Like?" I asked, intrigued at what my son has done.

"Like when you fought Iapetus," Nico pointed at the air, gesturing vaguely.

The throne room fell silent. We were all staring at my son in shock.

"He just fell into the Lethe," Percy mumbled blushing at everyone's stares.

"No, Percy," Nico shook his head, "you _pushed_ him into the Lethe after kicking his ass."

Everyone's jaw fell. "You we're kinda terrifying," Thalia added.

**(AN/ Percy is my favorite character, therefore, there will be a lot of making him look freaking awesome. Hopefully, even if you don't like Percy, you'll put up with it.)**

"Yeah, I wonder what happened to old Bob," Nico chuckled.

"Uh, Bob," Athena asked with confusion.

"After Percy pushed him into the Lethe, he convinced Iapetus that his name was Bob and that he was on our side," Nico explained, while Thalia was laughing.

"ANNABETH! Why don't you keep reading," Percy said quickly.

**but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

"Do a flip, I demand it," Apollo screamed, pointing at Percy.

Percy stood up, took a step forward, did a standing back, then flopped back down like nothing happened.

Everyone stared at him again, and he blushed, saying, "I couldn't say no, he's one of the few gods who likes me."

What gods don't like him? I wanted to know, but id talk to him later.

**I****looked****back****at****the****farmhouse.****It****was****a****lot****bigger****than****I'd****realized****—****four****stories****tall,****sky****blue****with****white****trim,****like****an****upscale****seaside****resort.****I****was****checking****out****the****brass****eagle****weather****vane** **on****top****when****something****caught****my****eye,****a****shadow****in****the****uppermost****window****of****the****attic****gable.****Something****had****moved****the****curtain,****just****for****a****second,****and****I****got****the****distinct****impression****I****was****being****watched.**

All of the demigods shuddered. Ahh, that's where the oracle is.

**"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

"Gods, I still don't like it up there," Percy muttered, and the futures nodded, while the past half-bloods looked confused.

"She's not up there anymore?" Chiron asked.

"No, she… ah…relocated," Big Annabeth decided on the word.

**"Somebody lives there?"**

"You couldn't give her anything to live up there," Percy and the other futures chuckled.

**"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

**I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.**

"The oracle has never moved," Chiron muttered, almost to himself.

Grover, Thalia, Nico, and my son shivered. "Oh, gods, the single scariest thing I have ever seen in my entire life," Percy muttered.

"What is," Silena asked.

"At least I wasn't there to see it," Big Annabeth laughed.

Thalia rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because where you were was sooo much better."

"I definitely wish you had just seen her with us," Percy traced a slightly faded strip of gray in Big Annabeth's hair, then planting a kiss on it.

"You and me both, Perce," Thalia grumbled.

Annabeth had been in a place that was more terrible than the scariest thing my son, who had faced many monsters and titans, has ever seen.

I glanced at Athena to see that she had grown a stark white as she came to the same conclusion. She looked so worried, she didn't even care my son had just kissed her daughter on the head.

**"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

**We walked through the strawberry fields,**

"You know, I know this son of Hermes," Nico suddenly began.

"Who just loves to look at those strawberries," Percy continued with a grin.

"Well…_one_ strawberry in particular," Thalia added, stifling a laugh.

"But he just cant seem to get the courage to go and pick that strawberry," Annabeth laughed, as the rest of them dissolved into laughter.

I saw one of the Hermes look-a-like boys, Travis I think it was, blush a deep, beet red, as the other brother, Connor, laughed hysterically with the futures.

**where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those,**

Dionysus grumbled about unfair fathers, then yelped when my brother singed his butt.

**so they grew strawberries instead.**

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.**

Several of the past demigods snickered, but the older Grover leaned over and said, "Don't worry, we get better," to his younger self.

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

"WHOA!" Connor screamed, startling everyone.

"What," Travis rolled his eyes at his little brother.

"The Big House…is a farmhouse," Connor said like the words should be worshipped.

…

"Uhh. Wow," Beckendorf managed to say as the rest of us were staring at this boy in disbelief.

"You just figured this out!" his brother demanded.

"You knew!" Connor accused.

"Well, it looks like Connor _has_ gotten smarter over the years," Big Annabeth mused, while the rest of the futures were snickering.

**"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."**

"Probably the greatest," Big Annabeth mused, sounding serious.

"What," Grover spluttered.

"Well, think about it. You found Thalia-," she pointed at the huntress, "Percy-," she nudged the boy she was leaning against, "-and Nico and Bianca," she finished gesturing to Nico.

"Where _is_ Bianca," Hades asked curiously.

For a moment I swore I saw guilt flash across my son's face. "Last I saw her, she was spending some quality time with you," Nico said, sounding like he was telling the truth, but lying at the same time.

**Chiron****sighed.****He****shed****his****tweed****jacket****and****draped****it****over****his****horses****back****like****a****saddle.****"Grover****has****big****dreams,****Percy.****Perhaps****bigger****than****are****reasonable.** **To****reach****his****goal,****he****must****first****demonstrate****great****courage****by****succeeding****as****a****keeper,****finding****a****new****camper****and****bringing****him****safely****to****Half-Blood****Hill."**

"But he did that with 6 half-bloods!" Percy yelled at the book.

"Six?" Grover asked.

"Yeah, Percy, Nico, Bianca, me, Thalia, and L-Luke," Big Annabeth stuttered over the last name, then continued before anyone could ask anything else.

**"But he did that!"**

**"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

"Grover's got the most courage I have ever seen in a satyr!" Percy exclaimed.

"Finding the Golden Fleece, then going into the Labyrinth, then fighting in-," Thalia clamped a hand around Nico's mouth before he could finish the thought.

"FIGHTING IN WHAT!" Ares demanded. "I have every right to know who's fighting who!"

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.**

"I really am sorry," Percy winced.

**"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

Grover bleated sadly, until Thalia hit him and said, "It was _not_ your fault, Goat Boy!"

She turned threateningly to Big Grover who held up his hands and said, "It was your decision I should stop blaming myself there's nothing I could have done and it doesn't matter now anyways," in a way that said he was obviously told plenty of times.

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that _was_Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago.**

Thalia did a scowl wince thing.

**Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age..."**

**"How old is he?"**

**"Oh, twenty-eight."**

**"What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

"Ughh, I'm so sick of sixth grade!" Grover moaned.

**"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

**"That's horrible."**

The Grovers bobbed their heads up and down.

**"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career..."**

"NEVER!" Grover shouted, sounding more determined than I had ever heard him…not that I heard him often.

"Good thing too, or I'd be a dead tree, camp would be destroyed, and the gods would have been overthrown," Thalia sighed, then realized she let quite a bit out, when we were all staring at her.

"Umm. Spoilers?" she said more like a question, but Big Annabeth continued to read again.

**"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

"Not really," Thalia said.

…

"Alright, so it was bad, but it was MY CHOICE!"

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"Excellent subject change," Travis snorted.

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word _death._The beginnings of an idea—a tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind.**

"Dammit Percy!" Nico and Thalia chimed.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Big Annabeth rolled her eyes.

Athena gaped at her daughter with fear and worry plain on her face.

**"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."**

**"Yes, child?"**

**"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"**

The rest of the demigods and Olympians finally understood and looked at Percy with varying degrees of disbelief.

I was terrified. My son would travel to my older brother's realm, and somehow manage to escape. Along with Annabeth. Now I know why Athena was so worried.

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

**"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

**"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"**

**"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."**

"There's that awesome subject change we all know and love," Connor snickered, and Chiron huffed.

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

**"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"**

"Stocked with monsters-," Travis started.

"And armed with armor and a weapon," Connor finished.

"Duh," they chimed together.

"I still didn't believe the gods were real at that point," Percy grumbled.

**"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"**

**"My own—?"**

"Why would he?" Silena asked.

"Well sometimes heroes are given a gift by their godly parent, and sometimes, they aren't. I was asking just in case," Chiron explained.

**"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much),**

"Well I wouldn't think so," Clarisse snickered as Chiron shot Percy an incredulous look.

**the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheatre, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

**"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

**"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually.**

"'Usually', oh well that's super reassuring," Nico muttered sarcastically.

**Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."**

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

**"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

"We still have to eat don't we," Chiron asked.

**Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird.**

Everyone from the future but my son opened their mouths, but Percy cut them off, "Yes, I know, we're going to insult my intelligence and discuss how I've always been weird, but I'm tired and would like to sleep soon."

**"We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.**

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them,**

"Not anymore," Nico muttered, then let out a small shriek when Thalia zapped him.

"For the love of the gods, Death Breath, if you don't keep your mouth shut, ill shut it for you and keep it that way," Thalia threatened, the air crackling and scented with ozone.

All of the past demigods inched away, and I admit I was scared myself, as I could see some of the other gods were.

But, of course, that Owl Head had to ask. "What do you mean not anymore?"

"Well," Percy began, struggling for the right words. "There's, ah, certain events that lead to changes in the camp," he carefully worded.

Before Athena could question him further, Big Annabeth continued reading.

**nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

"HEY!" Apollo whined.

"I just said they were bizarre, not ugly. Most of them are really strange, but still manage to look really nice," Percy reasoned.

Apollo waited a moment, then nodded as if accepting this answer.

"Geez, Kelp Head, those were some big words, are you feeling okay?" Thalia put her hand on Percy's head as if checking for fever.

Percy rolled his eyes and pushed her hand off as Nico said, "Annabeth is definitely wearing off on you."

"Percy wore off on me too," Big Annabeth added, and after a moment, Big Grover nodded and said, "Yeah you became WAY more reckless since you've met him."

Athena seemed pale even more, which made me hold back a chuckle.

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.**

"Mine/Dad's," Beckendorf and Hephaestus chimed.

**Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.**

"Mine/Mom's," Demeter and Katie said.

**Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.**

"MINE! OH YEAH! THAT ONE IS SO MINE!" Apollo leapt onto his throne, until Artemis pulled him down by his pants.

"If you continue to scream like that, I _will_ hurt you," she threatened.

Apollo didn't seem too affected, but I could see in his eyes he was afraid, so he remained silent.

**They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

"I've never seen you play," Nico said thoughtfully. "Though," he amended, "You were probably busy saving the w-," Big Annabeth wrapped a hand around Nico's mouth.

"Good gods, Nico, do I have to get the duct tape," Percy threatened.

The duct tape was obviously feared by Nico as he frantically shook his head with a panicked look on his face. He peeled Big Annabeth's hand off of his mouth and said, "No, sir," in a very fearful voice.

My son smirked victoriously, and his girlfriend rolled her eyes and continued reading.

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

"You saw me," Hestia startled everyone.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, no one ever sees me, or if they do they ignore me," she smiled warmly at Percy who smiled back, but seemed to be thinking about something else.

"Nico talked to you when he got to camp," Percy seemed to recall.

"And she helped us during the w-," Percy tackled Nico to the ground, and after clamping his hand on Nico's mouth, he turned to Thalia and said, "The duct tape please."

Thalia smirked and tossed him the tape. Percy grinned evilly. He moved his hand to pull a piece of tape off of the roll, and Nico screamed, "NO! ILL BE QUIET I PROMISE JUST DON'T HMMPPHH-," Percy put the tape in his mouth.

Percy snickered deviously, then tossed the tape to Thalia and sat back on the couch.

Nico glared, then slumped onto the couch.

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.**

"Mine!" Zeus called, then looked at Thalia like he expected her to back him up, but she had a distasteful look on her face, and she mumbled, "I hate that cabin."

Zeus looked hurt, but when he caught Hera looking at him he sobered.

**Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

"Mine," Hera said sweetly.

I swore I saw the Big Annabeth's eye twitch, but when my son put his hand on her leg, her face was completely cool.

**"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

**"Correct," Chiron said.**

**"Their cabins look empty."**

**"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

"No one is supposed to," Hera glared at Thalia, who got angry and said, "It's not my fault I was born! I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter!"

Before Hera could turn Thalia into an animal, Big Annabeth raised her voice and kept reading.

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.**

Several of the gods looked offended, but some either didn't mind (Apollo, Hermes, myself) and other didn't care (Dionysus).

**Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?**

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

"Mine!/ DAD'S!," me and my son shouted excitedly.

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor.**

"Hmph. Hear that? My cabin isn't a high and mighty," I couldn't help but smirk making the king and queen of the gods glare at Percy, who shot me a look that said, _why?_

**I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

"I wouldn't hurt my son!" I shouted, angry at the accusation.

"At the time, Lord Poseidon, I wasn't aware that he was your son," Chiron reasoned.

I was still angry, so I just grunted.

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down.**

**But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

"And it should stay sad and lonely!" Zeus boomed, and I just rolled my eyes, as my son and his friends exchanged looks filled with knowledge I didn't have.

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.**

**Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists.**

"MINE!/DAD'S!" Ares and Clarisse chanted, smiling wickedly.

**The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer.**

"Clarisse," the demigods decided, and said girl smirked.

**She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, **

"HEY!"

**though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

"You better believe I'm tougher," she snarled.

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

**"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk,**

"GO PARTY PONIES!" Hermes, Apollo, Percy, and shockingly, Dionysus screamed.

We all gaped at the god, who said, "I _am_ the god of parties you know! And those centaurs know how to party."

**I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

**"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."**

**He smiled down at me. _"The_Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

**"But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

"Subtle, aren't you," Beckendorf chuckled.

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about _should_be. The truth is, I _can't_be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

"Of course you're still needed," Percy, the Annabeths, and most other demigods screamed.

Chiron just smiled, and happiness twinkled in his eyes.

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.**

**"Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

**"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

**"Why depressing?"**

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

"I hate it when you do that!" Annabeth screamed.

**"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

**The blonde girl**

"I am going to murder you."

**I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.**

"MINE!/HERMES!" Hermes and the Stolls screamed, while Chris just had a small smile. _(AN/__Someone__told__me__Chris__was__just__an__unclaimed__in__Hermes__cabin,__so__we__'__re__all__just__going__to__pretend__he__'__s__a__Hermes__kid__that__felt__neglected__like__Luke,__cool__beans?)_

**When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

Everyone laughed as Big Annabeth somehow managed to blush and smirk simultaneously.

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek.**

The Stolls laughed uncontrollably hard, and Katie mumbled, "It wasn't even that funny."

**There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

"It was," demigod said, and the Annabeths blushed.

**"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on _old._**

"HEY!"

"Its not _that_ old," the Stolls defended, but Chris was bobbing his head in agreement.

**The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it...?**

"A caduceus! Geez, not that hard to remember!"

**A caduceus.**

"Oh," Hermes blushed.

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.**

My son and his friends smiled sadly about something, while the Hermes boys whined about not having enough space.

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.**

"Chiron always has our respect," the Stolls chimed innocently.

"Yeah, him and the gods. That's all you respect," Katie rolled her eyes looking angry.

The futures saddened, and Percy said, "Don't worry, those two definitely come to respect the other demigods."

Katie looked startled, and the Stolls, along with everyone, else were confused. I guess it would take quite a bit for those two to learn to respect others, making me wonder what could have made them so sad about it.

Big Annabeth quickly cleared her throat and read before anyone coughAthenacough could ask questions.

**"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

"Yeah, Percy, six schools in six years? You've even got us beat," Connor chuckled.

**"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.**

"NATURALLY!" Thalia and Nico laughed, though Nico sounded more like, "MMHHMHMHEE!"

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."**

**"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."**

**Everybody groaned.**

Hermes, Hestia, Aphrodite, myself and a few other gods all frowned when the demigods looked unaffected. My son had a mischievous look on his face, that made me feel likehe was going to cause quite a bit of trouble for us as gods.

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.**

The futures breaths hitched. I was confused, and I saw Hermes grow worried.

**"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

"Ooh, a spot on the floor, how inviting," Nico muttered darkly.

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

Big Annabeth's voice became more strangled as she read, and she stopped, laying the book in her lap. She looked sad, and a little sick, as did my son and the others. I was a little surprised but not as surprised as when I saw what next happened.

Hermes leapt off of his throne and actually fell _to__his__knees_ in front of Percy. "What? Please tell me its not that bad. He wasn't that bad, was he?" he frantically repeated.

My son looked up and I saw him age about ten years. He said in a soft voice that carried, "I'm sorry Lord Hermes. It all worked out in the end."

He might as well have slapped Hermes. The god stumbled backwards into his throne and had grief written on his face. He slumped to the side and held his head in one hand. _(AN/__Jesus__Christ__I'm__a__drama__queen.__If__you__don__'__t__like__overdramatic__reactions,__then__I__apologize)_

While everyone looked at Hermes, very concerned, I glanced at my son and saw him slowly put himself together, like Big Annabeth, Big Grover, Nico and Thalia were doing.

I turned back and saw Apollo very concerned for his brother and asked, "Hermes?"

"Just read," Hermes answered with a thick voice.

**"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing.**

Annabeth opened her mouth to argue, but was cut silent when Chiron looked at her sharply, then pointedly at Hermes.

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor, for now."**

**"For now?" I asked.**

**"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."**

The Hermes boys nodded enthusiastically, not wanting to say anything to upset their father.

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down,**

"Yes, Percy, go ahead and set it down. We're all friends," Travis snickered deviously.

**but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.**

"Way to pick up on that," Beckendorf nodded approvingly.

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, **

"Undetermined," the demigods chimed, and all of us gods (except Dionysus) frowned at the thought of our children being so unhappy.

**some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"Hermes kids," the demigods decided, with the Stoll brothers smiling evilly.

**"How long will I be here?" I asked.**

**"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

**"How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

Everyone frowned.

**"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

**"I've already seen it."**

**"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

Everyone's frown deepened.

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

"Ooooh, Annabeth busted out the last name!" Travis oh'ed.

"Shut up, Stoll," Clarisse barked, and Travis immediately sank into his seat silently.

**"What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

"The one, eh," Thalia snickered, and Nico said something along the lines of, "Mhffmmhnn,hmhmhmhm."

Big Annabeth seemed to hold back a blush, when Hades suddenly asked, "Son, why don't you just take the tape off?"

Percy answered with a glint in his eye that made me a little scared. "It's enchanted tape, I had the Hephaestus cabin make it for me. It can only be removed by the person who put it on. Even gods cant pull it off," he finished smirking at the dark eyed boy who was glaring back at him.

**"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I killed some bull guy—"**

Everyone snorted.

**"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"**

"I never want another chance. I'm good," Big Annabeth chuckled darkly, making Athena look extremely alarmed.

**"To get killed?"**

"Well when you put it that way," Beckendorf muttered.

**"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was _the_Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."**

**"Yes."**

**"Then there's only one."**

**"Yes."**

**"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right?**

"You know, I'm no child of Athena," Connor said.

"And thank the gods for that," Annabeth muttered.

"But I'm pretty sure gajillion isn't a number," he finished like he hadn't heard Annabeth.

**Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."**

**"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

"Yeah, took me forever to get that concept," Chris admitted.

**"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

"No problem, Percy," Travis mimicked Annabeth poorly, then a bronze blur cut off a bit of hair sticking in front of his face, and another blur stick firmly between his legs on his chair.

He paled so much he might have just escaped from Hades' realm.

"I think ill stop talking now," he squeaked, and I saw two Annabeths smirking victoriously.

**"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them arche types. Eventually, they re-form."**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally,**

Everyone snorted very loudly.

**with a sword—"**

**"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

**"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

**"You talk in your sleep."**

"Yeah, super not helpful when trying to sleep on a quest," Big Annabeth whined.

**"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.**

"Mmmnhmnmh,"Nico pointed at himself proudly.

"Umm, what?" I asked.

"Probably something along the lines of, 'only if I'm there'," Thalia explained.

**"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

**"Look, is there anything we _can_say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny,**

"You were. It was extremely annoying."

**even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

"YOU WILL NOT SLEEP THERE IF YOU ARE NOT MINE!" Zeus shouted.

I was quite surprised when I saw Percy roll his eyes, but before Zeus could threaten him further, Big Annabeth began to read again, quite frantically.

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or... your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

"That'll take a while," Percy mimicked Annabeth, who threw her knife, which my son caught by the hilt.

Eyes shifted to Big Annabeth who shrugged and said, "I know better than to try and hurt Percy," and read.

**"My****mom****is****Sally****Jackson,"****I****said.** **"She****works****at****the****candy****store****in****Grand****Central****Station.****At****least,****she****used****to."**

Everyone winced.

**"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

**"He's dead. I never knew him."**

I felt horrible that I hadn't been able to be there for my son, but my brother would never have allowed it.

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.**

"Plenty of new kids," Percy and the futures smiled.

**"Your father's not dead, Percy."**

**"How can you say that? You know him?"**

**"No, of course not."**

**"Then how can you say—"**

**"Because****I****know**_**you.**_ **You****wouldn't****be****here****if****you****weren't****one****of****us."**

**"You don't know anything about me."**

**"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

"Every single one," Annabeth snorted.

"Hey! I've been at good for 2 years," Percy bragged, looking very proud of himself.

**"How—"**

**"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

**I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

**"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right?**

**That's****because****your****mind****is****hardwired****for****ancient****Greek.** **And****the****ADHD****—****you're****impulsive,****can't****sit****still****in****the****classroom.****That's****your****battle****field****reflexes.****In****a****real****fight,****they'd****keep****you****alive.****As****for****the****attention****problems,****that's****because****you****see****too****much,****Percy,****not****too****little.****Your****senses****are****better****than****a****regular****mortal's.****Of****course****the****teachers****want****you****medicated.****Most****of****them****are****monsters.****They****don't****want****you****seeing****them****for****what****they****are."**

**"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"**

**"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

**"Ambrosia and nectar?"**

"YES DO I HAVE TO REAPEAT EVERYTHING!" Annabeth shouted, irritated.

**"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin**

"IT IS NOT UGLY!" the war god and his daughter argued.

**was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

**"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

_**''Erre**____**es**____**korakas!"**_ **Annabeth****said,****which****I****somehow****under****stood****was****Greek****for****'Go****to****the****crows!'****though****I****had****a****feeling****it****was****a****worse****curse****than****it****sounded.**

Percy and Big Annabeth shuddered. "Ughh, I _hated_ the Stymphalian Birds," Percy groaned.

"I actually remember that. I tried to help, but…there…wasn't a whole lot I could do," Thalia looked pained.

Big Annabeth wrapped an arm around her friends shoulder.

**"You don't stand a chance."**

**"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat.**

"I AM TOO SURE!"

**She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

**"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"**

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

**"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

Both Ares and Clarisse glared at my son ferociously, but Percy didn't seem very affected.

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

"So that's why you all laughed when Clarisse called Percy 'Prissy'," Silena said.

**"Percy."**

**"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

**"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.**

**"Stay out of it, wise girl."**

All of the futures turned to gape at Percy except Big Annabeth.

"Is…that how-," Grover stuttered.

"I cant believe it," Thalia looked shocked.

"Mhmfnnm!" Nico added.

"Its not that big a deal, guys," Big Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"IT'S A HUGE DEAL," they screamed, well Nico, "MPPHM!"'d.

"What is?" Athena asked.

"That's Percy's nickname for Annabeth," Thalia explained, while Big Grover muttered, "How could have never noticed? I knew I had heard it before."

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

"Oh yeah, this'll end well," Katie muttered.

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron.**

Clarisse smirked, obviously not realizing the dilemma of water and Percy being my son.

**She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I _could_think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

"Yeah, why don't we have classier johns?" the Stolls demanded.

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

**"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

I glared at Clarisse and she shrivled.

**Her friends snickered.**

**Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

"I WAS NOT!" Annabeth defended, but Big Annabeth said, "Yeah you were."

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets.**

Everyone wrinkled their noses.

**I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.**

"Seaweed Brain, you must be the most stubborn person I have ever met," Big Annabeth rolled her eyes.

Percy shrugged and grinned, saying, "The sea doesn't yield to those who demand it."

"Who said that?" Katie asked.

"What makes you think I didn't?" Percy asked, feigning offense.

"Well, from what we've learned so far, you're kind of an idiot," Katie said shamelessly.

Percy muttered, "Cant go five minutes without someone insulting my intelligence," then he spoke up, "My dad said that to me not 3 days ago," turning to smile at me, which I happily returned.

**Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach.**

The futures started cackling while the smug grin slipped off of Ares' and Clarisse's faces.

**I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet,**

"Oh, nasty ass toilet water," Thalia groaned, with many nodding in agreement.

**making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

Clarisse turned his withering glare onto Percy who just winked at her and said, "Don't worry, Clarisse, we're friends forever."

**I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt.**

Ares looked a little angry, but not too much. I think I had once heard him say he doesn't like to fight his children's fights or something like that.

**The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

Clarisse was growing steadily angrier. I was sure that we'd soon see smoke pouring out of her ears.

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her.**

**But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.**

A soft growl came from Clarisse's mouth, and all of the past demigods around her inched away very slowly, like they would a wild animal.

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.**

"Yeah. I was not happy," she glared at my son, who just grinned and said, "Not the last time we spend some time with water," and Big Annabeth blushed only slightly, hardly enough to notice.

**She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.**

"How did I not know sooner?" Annabeth slapped her forehead, and Big Annabeth said, "Because you were hoping he was just the son of some minor water god, and that you were waiting for maybe a Zeus kid."

Annabeth stared at her older self, who said, "What? I am you, you know, and I have been through all of this."

**I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

"So, you're water resistant?" Silena asked.

"Yeah. Damn good thing to or when he fell into the Lethe with Bob, we'd probably all be screwed," Thalia nodded, causing everyone to stare at my son, AGAIN.

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you ..."**

**"I don't know."**

"I do now!" Percy smirked.

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage.**

She was glaring at my son so forcefully, id be trembling, but he didn't seem too affected.

**She gave me a look of absolute hatred. **

"Hate me now, but you'll love me by the end of the second book," Percy muttered, sounding more like he was talking to himself.

We all looked at him, and he was startled when he saw us watching, and said, "Oh, uh, did I say that out loud? Never mind, hey Wise Girl lets read!"

**"You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

The Stolls and several other gods and demigods started cracking up.

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.**

**Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

"Both," the Annabeths chimed, then Bog Annabeth added, "And a plan for a certain game."

"Yeah. Not the most fun game of Capture the Flag I've played," Percy winced, rubbing his chest, while Big Annabeth and Grover grimaced, making the blood drain from my face.

**"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

**"I'm thinking," She said, "That I want you on my team for capture the flag.**

"Done!"

"I'm sleepy. I wanna go to bed," Percy whined.

"Percy, you over grown five-year-old," Thalia fake scolded, "I want you to go straight to bed mister."

Percy snapped into a salute, and barked, "Yes ma'am , Thalia, ma'am!"

The other futures rolled their eyes and walked to where they apparently already knew the guest rooms were, though they seemed to be mostly following Big Annabeth.

I sighed and flashed to my temple on Olympus, afraid of tomorrow and the dangers my son will have to face already.

*********************AUTHOR'S NOTE THAT MOST OF YOU WILL IGNORE*******************

HOLY GOOD GOD DAMN IN HEAVEN I HATE FINALS

Now that that's out of the way.

So, yeah, cramming for finals was how most of this week and previous week were spent. BUT it is now Christmas break (Sorry if you're not Christian but to me it is Christmas break and will stay that way) THEREFOR I SHOULD BE ABLE TO WRITE MORE!

I am trying to make this more original with more dialogue, so chapters may be slower coming.

ALSO you may have noticed that my Muses were dead in some spots, and at the high point only three lines later. Blame the hormones.

SO ILL SEE YOU GUYS SOON NEW PERSON ARRIVING AND READING NEXT CHAPTER, THEN NEW VOTE WILL BE UP.

-Schocker


	9. Irritations, Oracles, and Plots

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS**

**Athena's POV (This'll be fun, you'll kind of see a lot of observations and deep thoughts, and for those of you who thought Athena didn't react enough to Percabeth, here are her inner thoughts! MWAHAHAHA)**

_Also, if a character's name is underlined, it means they are the past version. So, _Annabeth _is from the past and _Annabeth _is from the future, capice?_

I awoke in my temple _(AN- Do the gods sleep? If not, they do in this story.)_ at exactly 6 AM mortal time. It was strange, though no time was passing, the sun still rose and set, the clocks moved, and it truly felt like time was passing. Then again time felt different to immortals. Perhaps after this reading was over, I would ask the Fates.

I flashed myself to throne room, making myself presentable at the same time. I found that only my sister and her twin were present.

"Artemis, Apollo," I nodded. Artemis nodded back politely, and continued polishing her bow. Apollo lifted his Ray Bans and grinned. "Hey, there, 'Thena, whatcha doin up so early?" he asked very casually.

"I get up this early every morning, Apollo," I said slowly, as if to a small child.

"I'm not sure I like your condensationing tone," he pouted.

"I believe that you may be trying to say 'condescending' tone, though I am quite impressed you got that close," I said with a small smile. Apollo started to protest, but then looked at me with sudden surprise.

After a few seconds, I scowled. "What?" "You-did-I-whoa! You told a _joke_ 'Thena!" he exclaimed like it was truly unbelievable.

My scowl deepened, and I sat in my chair and started reading _War and Peace_. It was my 893rd time reading it, but I loved it.

Slowly throughout the next 2 hours, the 9 other Olympians flashed in, as did Hades and Hestia.

At exactly 8:16, the demigods shuffled in, some chattering excitedly, others half asleep. They all sat down in the assorted chairs and sofas.

"I will read," Artemis declared. She turned to the appropriate page, but before she could utter a single word, the room grew dim, and a green, murky smoke spread.

There was no crack, but I sensed someone was falling, and apparently everyone else did as well, and we all craned our necks to the ceiling.

It was a girl, with flaming red hair, though she wasn't screaming. In fact, her whole face was blank, and her eyes had a strange look that I hadn't seen in years. The green mist, for it was too thin to be smoke, seemed to be supporting her. She finally touched down, and almost instantly, the mist dissipated. The girl's eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed into the arms of 2 people I had not seen move from their positions with almost practiced ease. My daughter and the Sea Spawn set her on the sofa.

The _Sea Spawn_. Just thinking about him and my daughter together infuriated me. Normally, I am all for letting my children decide their own path. But there was absolutely no way I would allow this. I forbid it. Annabeth was going places. Or Annabeth. This time travel even hurt _my_ brain.

EITHER WAY I will simply not stand for it. I shall simply have to keep them apart.

_You already tried_.

_Get out of my head Aphrodite_ I scowled.

_Just listen. You have already attempted to keep them apart; I can sense disapproval in their relationship. Do you see Poseidon fuming?_

_Just keep out of my business _I snapped.

The girl opened her eyes and coughed.

"Mornin' RED," Thalia smirked.

"Where…" the girl trailed off, her eyes glazing over for a moment, then she nodded in understanding. She almost acted like an Oracle, though the curse has been placed on the priestess since the 1940s.

She glared playfully with interesting emerald eyes. "Good morning, lieutenant," she mock saluted.

Thalia rolled her eyes and said, "Har dee har har. Introduce yourself."

The flame-headed girl stood. "Well, my name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Oracle of Delphi."

Apollo leapt up and fist pumped. "YEAH! MY ORACLE FINALLY CHANGED BODIES!"

I glanced at a quiet Hermes who looked pained. I recall one of his lovers had once attempted to become the Oracle, but was driven insane by the curse. A glance at Hades revealed a truly guilty look on his face.

"Do you need me to fill you in," Connor scooted closer suggestively.

"Alrighty," Rachel pushed the Hermes boy away with a hand to his face. "1) You don't need to fill me in, I'm an ORACLE, I already know. 2) I am a VIRGIN PREISTESS. Do you know what that means?" Connor shook his head. "It means, no boys allowed. And 3) Seriously, what are you, like, 8? I'm a tad too old."

Everyone laughed and Connor turned a deep shade of red. "Now! Enough about me! I want to learn how a brain made of seaweed works," Rachel grinned at Percy, who rolled his eyes.

Artemis seemed very amused with Rachel, and probably admired her 'talk' with Connor.

She cleared her throat and once again turned to the correct page.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to lie! So, uh, yeah, Rachel's here now! I'm setting up a poll, its easier to count than reviews, but please don't stop reviewing!<strong>

**I'll have the next chapter out in a few days, should I continue with Athena's POV? Let me know!**

**Once again I am SO SORRY and I swear that I will finish this story, however long it takes. I refuse to abandon it!**

**VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE**

**-Schocker**


	10. My dinner smokes

**Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

**Athena's POV**

_She (Artemis) cleared her throat and once again turned to the correct page._

**"My Dinner Goes up in Smoke," **

"Way to word that as weird as possible Seaweed Brain," Annabeth snorted.

Anger flared up inside of me again. There was a nagging voice in the back of my head that I have always listened too, as it tends to be the source of my wisdom, but this time I ignored it's chant.

_But he loves her. Children cannot choose their parents. You must learn to let your children make their own decisions. Don't let your personal issues cloud your judgment._

I shoved the voice away. They shouldn't be together, so why are they?

All of this flickered through my mind in less than a second, stopping when Artemis' voice rang out once more.

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately.**

"It's a camp, Pedro, what were you expecting?" Dionysus muttered, flipping through his magazine, sounding very bored. Everyone stared at him in surprise, including myself. I didn't think he was paying attention.

He seemed to realize we were looking at him, as he glared over the top of his magazine and barked, "Well? Get on with the story!"

**Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

Stupid Sea Spawn, **(AN-how that for alliteration XD)** how dare he do that to my daughter! And my favorite daughter, no less!

But, Annabeth just rolled her eyes and elbowed him _hard_. Strange, though, she seemed to wince when she hit him, and she was now rubbing her elbow.

Nico seemed to try to say something, but he still had the tape on his mouth. "You left the tape on all night?" Annabeth demanded.

"No, I took it off, but after he wouldn't shut up at 3 in the morning, I put another strip on," Percy glared at the younger boy.

"Meeh mhy mip mopm," Nico clasped his hands together. I hadn't a clue what he said, but apparently Percy did, as he replied, "You promise to behave?" Nico bobbed his head up and down happily.

Percy seemed to smile evilly, as he reached for the tape on his cousin's mouth. Nico seemed to realize as his face grew scared, but he wanted the tape off more than he was afraid, because he didn't move.

Percy gripped the edge firmly and said, "On 3. 1. 2-," he ripped it off, resulting in a squeal from the mouth of the son of Hades.

"I thought you said on 3," Nico glared. Percy shrugged and said, "It hurts less if it takes you by surprise."

Nico just stared, then nodded his head and rubbed the rectangle of red that was around his mouth tenderly.

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),**

"Pan!" both Grovers bleated indignantly. Then Grover looked a little sad, while Annabeth and Percy winced. Ah, yes, Grover said he was the Lord of the Wild, so I suppose they found him, and he faded.

**and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

"I hate that wall!" the Stoll brothers whined. "Yeah I'm not a fan either," Percy muttered distastefully, though he sounded like he was talking to himself.

He seemed to have realized he said that a little too loud, and seemed to find his shoes incredibly interesting.

"Son," Barnacle Beard called for the boy's attention, "You do know that, as my son, you are resistant to burning."

Percy seemed to shudder and had a pained expression. "I know. But resistance only goes so far."

Annabeth's eyebrows were scrunched together, and she asked quietly, "Was that right before you blew up-," "Yeah." "In the-," "Uh-huh."

"WHAT DID YOU BLOW UP!" Ares was suddenly much more interested in the conversation.

My half-sister rolled her eyes and continued reading.

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.**

**"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

**"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

**"Whatever."**

"No need to be so snarky, Annie," Thalia mockingly reprimanded.

Annabeth glared at her, while Annabeth punched her arm and said, "Shut up, Thals." Everyone turned back to Artemis, but I heard Annabeth whisper, "I've missed you, bestie," only half-jokingly. I suppose as Artemis' lieutenant she doesn't see my daughter often.

**"It wasn't my fault."**

Most of the room scoffed or snorted.

"Oh, yeah, because you all knew exactly what you could do, and completely understood it the first time it happened," Percy defended, effectively shutting up all of the demigods and Grover.

**She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.**

Many people were laughing, and I admittedly fought to keep a smile off of my face. As much as I dislike the Sea Spawn, he did have a way of diffusing tension.

"I wanna-become-one-with the plumbing," Nico wheezed, setting of another round of laughter.

Everyone finally calmed down, and Artemis continued reading.

**"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.**

Rachel leaned forward, obviously wanting to learn more about the former host. I doubt she really saw much in her trance of switching the bodies.

Apollo stood and whooped, making his twin roughly grab him by the back of his pants and yank him down. "Stop acting like a child," she hissed angrily.

"Geez, you'd think the goddess of childbirth would be a little more patient," Apollo muttered, then let out a small "_Eep,"_ when Artemis' bow was pointed at his head. "What was that?" she asked sweetly.

"N-n-nothing! Nothing at all, my darling sister!" Apollo stuttered.

**"Who?"**

**"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."**

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

"Do they," Hephaestus asked interestedly.

The Sea Spawn turned to glare at many of the futures and Chiron, who all smiled sheepishly.

"I'll take that as a no," Hermes muttered. It was the first time I heard him talk since yesterday, and I was more than a little concerned. Hermes obviously knew something about his son, Luke, that was truly awful. At least he seemed to be returning to normal, even if it was a bit slowly.

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.**

"I suppose in a way, you are," Annabeth said thoughtfully.

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

**"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

Plenty of the male gods grew dreamy as naiads were mentioned, making Hera, Aphrodite, and Demeter glare at their husbands/boyfriends/son-in-laws.

**"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."**

"Wait. Wait. Hold on, just…," Nico turned to Percy. "You mean to tell me. That after killing a fury, watching your mom disappear, killing the Minotaur with your bare hands, finding out your best friend is a satyr, and that your Latin teacher was a centaur, seeing naiads overwhelmed you?"

Percy just shrugged.

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

**"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

Did he just call my children 'mentally disturbed'? Oh, yes, a plan was forming in my head.

**"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."**

**"Half-human and half-what?"**

The room let out a collective groan, and Percy just rolled his eyes.

**"I think you know."**

**I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.**

I swear I saw that sorry excuse for a god smile when his son said that. I must admit, I would also be happy if my children that didn't know about me (though most did early in their lives, being wisdom's child wasn't easy to hide) react when they thought about me.

**"God," I said. "Half-god."**

"FINALLY!" Nico and Thalia screamed. Percy rolled his eyes once more and said, "Shut up, Nico, when you found out, you almost started asking how many hit points you had."

The son of Hades glared at his cousin and shoved him, but you could tell they loved each other in a brotherly way.

_He really does care for those around him. Maybe he and Annabeth-_NO! I will not allow it.

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

**"That's ... crazy."**

"Oh, so close," Annabeth groaned. "At this rate, it'll take forever for Prissy to actually gat his quest," Clarisse scowled. When many of the demigods looked at her surprise, she grunted, "What? I'm ready for some action!" Ares was nodding enthusiastically in agreement.

**"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans**

Hera snorted, "More like lust."

Some of the gods shrugged in agreement, though Hades and Poseidon looked angry at the accusation, and Hermes looked annoyed.

**and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

"No," all of the goddesses chimed wearily.

**"But those are just-" I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth.**

Thalia scoffed and said, "Percy, you're already a myth. Those kids at camp look at you like you're a god."

Percy blushed and said, "It's not that great, I wish they'd leave me alone."

**"But if all the kids here are half-gods,"**

**"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

**"Then who's your dad?"**

Annabeth clenched her fists and jaw.

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.**

"You did," Annabeth hissed.

Annabeth frowned, and looked at Percy with a look that said, _Was I really that bad?_

Percy simply nodded, making Annabeth's frown deeper.

**"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."**

**"He's human."**

**"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

"That wasn't sexist," Beckendorf said confusedly, "He could have just as easily said it was your mom first, he was just used to a missing parent being his dad."

Annabeth glared at the ground so hard, a hole might've burned through it. I had felt guilty that I hadn't checked on Annabeth when she was with her father, as it was obvious she was quite neglected.

Beckendorf, who was apparently waiting for an answer, realized that he wasn't going to get it from Annabeth so he turned to Annabeth.

"I was just…a little angry," she put timidly, making Percy snort loudly. She elbowed him and looked at him threateningly, effectively shutting him up.

**"Who's your mom, then?"**

**"Cabin six."**

**"Meaning?"**

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

I smiled at my daughter…s. I truly do love my children, though my father's rules keep me from them. I have a strange feeling that it was going to…what's the expression?... Ah, yes, come back and bite us in the ass.

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

"What does that mean," I glared at the Sea Spawn, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"I was still in shock. I meant no offense, Lady Athena."

"Well, at least you have some manners," I grumbled, making the futures grin.

**"And my dad?"**

**"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

**"Except my mother. She knew."**

Poseidon nodded. "She could see through the Mist anyway."

**"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

**"My dad would have. He loved her."**

Poseidon nodded furiously. Percy smiled happily at his dad.

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.**

**"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."**

**"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

All of the demigods glared at us accusingly. I felt a little bad, though I usually claimed most all of my children.

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."**

All of the Olympians with children hung their heads in shame, myself included. I didn't want it to seem like I didn't care. I love all of my children, honestly. I try not to ignore them, contact them, help them in times of need, but I can only do so much.

Was this truly how all of our children felt? The thought left a bad taste in my mouth. That whole 'come back to bite us in the ass' feeling just got a lot stronger.

**I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.**

Some of the gods looked a little angry, but were still ashamed. You would think that we would. Even I, goddess of wisdom, made mistakes, had petty, vindictive moments that shouldn't have happened. You would also think that with thousands of years of living and experience that we _should_…but…we don't.

**"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

**"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force.**

"Hey! I'm plenty powerful," Silena declared. The futures got a sad and uneasy look on their faces. "Yeah," Percy agreed, "You most definitely are."

Silena looked confused, as did most of the room. Something bad happened, something to do with Silena.

**The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. **

"And you really shouldn't leave at all," Annabeth told Percy, who nodded and said, "Probably not, but I'd miss my mom and Paul."

"Paul," Barnacle Beard frowned. "Who's Paul?"

"Oh, uh, he's uh, he's my new step-dad," Percy said timidly. Poseidon actually looked a little hurt.

**We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."**

**"So monsters can't get in here?"**

"No," Annabeth said right as Annabeth said, "Not usually."

"Usually," Chiron raised an eyebrow, speaking for nearly the first time since we've been reading.

"Oh, uh," Annabeth blushed, obviously not having meant to say that out loud. "Well, we've had the bronze bulls, the Stymphalian Birds, skeletons once," she looked a Nico pointedly, who busied himself looking around the room, "the Ophiotaurus-," "WHAT?" "We'll get there," Annabeth waved them off impatiently. "And then there was only the Battle of-," she cut herself off and the future's faces darkened.

"WHAT BATTLE! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO KNOW!" Ares boomed, standing and transforming into his Greek battle armor. The past demigods all looked terrified, but the futures looked annoyed and a little angry.

"Ares, sit down," Aphrodite commanded. Ares eyes glazed over and he sat down.

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."**

**"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

**"Practice fights. Practical jokes."**

**"Practical jokes?"**

Percy snorted. "I wish it was a practical joke," he muttered.

**"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

**"So ... you're a year-rounder?"**

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

Annabeth, who had been fiddling with said ring, scowled and put the necklace back under the collar. Annabeth smiled softly at her younger form, and continued fiddling with the ring.

**"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."**

**"Why did you come so young?"**

Annabeth scowled and glared at the son of the sea, but Annabeth let out a snort. "I forgot how tactless you were when you first got there," she smirked at her…boyfriend. I shuddered. The boy merely smiled and kissed the top of her head with love in his eyes.

_I suppose if he really cared about her-_No. _Though I have a feeling about his fatal flaw. If he loves her then he would always protect her. Maybe its not so bad that they're-_NO!

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

Travis leaned over Katie (who looked none too pleased about that) and said to Annabeth, "No need to be so cold Annie."

Annabeth lashed out and punched him in the shoulder so hard he fell off the couch and squealed like a 5 year old little girl.

Someone's laugh boomed through the throne room, and I was startled to see Hermes on the ground, clutching his sides with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Oh-my-gods," he wheezed. "You-HAHA- you squealed like a-a-a five year old," his laughter broke off and he was only wheezing, clearly too out of breath for real laughter. Soon, we were all laughing. Even Travis, though he was as red as Rachel's hair.

After about ten minutes, we all managed to calm down, though we were all still giggly.

**"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

**"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."**

**"Unless?"**

**"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time..."**

The futures grimaced.

**Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.**

**"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"**

**"Ambrosia."**

**"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know some thing?"**

Rachel giggled. "Percy knowing something! That's a good one."

"Not you too!" Percy pouted.

**"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

**She clenched her fists.**

**"I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major.**

"YES IT WAS MAJOR! Someone stole my bolt," Zeus clutched the bolt to his chest like someone might try to take it away from him.

**Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."**

**"You've been to Olympus?"**

Nico snorted, "That's an understatement-oof!" he grunted when Thalia elbowed him in the stomach.

When we all shifted or eyes to Annabeth she pointed to herself and said, "Architect. Remember?"

**"Some of us year-rounders Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."**

**"But... how did you get there?"**

**"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already.**

"But Percy wouldn't know any of this yet," Beckendorf frowned, apparently not liking how Percy was being treated like he was stupid for not knowing these things yet. "He's still a brand new half-blood, you're not treating him fairly."

Both Annabeths looked a little ashamed, but Percy surprisingly let out a laugh. "Don't you worry Beckendorf, I'm never treated fairly." Beckendorf didn't look happy about that, and neither did most of the demigods.

**"You are a New Yorker, right?"**

**"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

Several of the demigods snickered.

**"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen.**

Zeus huffed and opened his mouth. "We know!" Hera yelled, pinching the bridge of her nose like she felt a headache was coming on.

**And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon.**

Poseidon and I glared at each other, but Aphrodite cooed and said to our children, "But you didn't let it keep you apart. Just like Romeo and Juliet!"

"Wait. Didn't they, like, both kill themselves or something like that?" Chris' eyebrows knitted together.

"Well, yes, but that's not the point!" "I think it's pretty important," Percy muttered, making the futures and the Stolls snicker.

**But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together.**

"And we do! Quite well, in fact," Percy smiled at Annabeth. I managed to refrain from snarling at him. Any more of this and may start to behave like Artemis when she's angry. My half-sister smirked at me before she continued reading.

**I thought you might know something."**

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

**"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem-"**

**I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl.**

"How could I not, it sounds like a dying animal when your stomach growls," Annabeth smiled affectionately.

**She told me to go on, she'd catch me later.**

**I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.**

Annabeth looked to Annabeth and mouthed something I didn't catch, while Annabeth nodded in response. Annabeth sat back, looking extremely pleased with herself.

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles.**

All eyes shifted to the Stolls, who a few seconds ago had their heads close discussing something suspicious, and Chris who was picking stuff out from under his nails with a pocketknife. They did have those features, though Chris didn't really seem like one to smile.

**They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers.**

**Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn.**

**The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.**

The futures shifted in their seats uneasily, and Hermes frowned again.

**"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."**

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.**

"He wasn't," the Stolls laughed in unison.

**I said, "Thanks."**

**"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

**"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

**"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

I frowned with most of the gods. Surely it couldn't be that bad. But the looks on some of the demigods' faces seemed to say otherwise.

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

**"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, **

"Would've saved him quite a bit of trouble," Nico muttered, then grunted when Percy elbowed him in the stomach.

**but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."**

**"The wing-footed messenger guy."**

Hermes smiled a little. He seemed to be fond of Percy.

**"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

The smile slid off Hermes' face. The Stoll boys looked angry, but Chris almost seemed to not care.

**I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.**

"That he certainly did," Nico muttered darkly.

**"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.**

**"Once."**

Hermes seemed to grimace at the memory. I wonder if we'd ever get to see it.

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.**

"No," Hermes, Thalia, and the Annabeths chimed. Hmm, maybe Hermes visited them on their way to Camp.

**Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."**

"I like it better when you say it, Perce," Grover said softly, and the other futures seemed to agree, simultaneously angering and confusing Annabeth, who obviously was very protective of Luke.

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him even if he was a counselor should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.**

"I showed you around camp!" the Annabeths both yelled, making it frightening in two different pitches, one deeper, one higher.

"Well, yeah, but that was because Chiron asked you to," Percy pointed out.

"And you were really rude," Thalia added.

"And you were willing to let Clarisse beat the snot out of him," Nico chimed in.

Grover opened his mouth to weigh in, but one look at Annabeth silenced him.

Annabeth sunk back into the seat, while Annabeth actually looked a little upset that her friends didn't defend her.

Annabeth's arms were crossed angrily, but Percy smiled softly and tenderly pulled her against his chest. Her expression was clearly annoyed, but I could see a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Percy gently kissed the top of her head, and a smile broke through on her lips.

I wanted to yell at him to get away from my daughter, but she…looked so happy. The boy would definitely still have to be removed, but at least for the moment, it was nice to see my daughter happy.

**I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

Groans emanated from the futures, the Sea Spawn's the loudest.

"What?" Apollo grinned, though he looked a little hurt about their not liking prophecies.

"Well, I get a very unhappy one soon, then I'm part of Clarisse's, then I'm part of another one to rescue Artemis, then Annabeth gets one that I'm part of, then y'know, the Great Prophecy. I just hate them. Sorry Lord Apollo," Percy grinned apologetically at his cousin.

"I get a quest?" Clarisse sounds excited.

"I'm/Artemis is kidnapped?" the twin archers asked, the brother more panicked.

"What was your quest?" I asked Annabeth who just made a sign, like, "Be patient."

However the loudest occurrence was the Big Three screaming, "You're the child of prophecy?"

Questions were continuously fired, before-

"QUIET!" Hephaestus boomed. We all turned to shock at the blacksmith. "I am sure we will discover what happens in the course of these books," he said in a quiet voice.

"Alright, just," Zeus turned to his daughter, "Thalia, I thought _you_ were the child of prophecy. You look to be 16, you're older than either of these boys."

"Actually, I have been 15 years and 364 days for…how long has it been?"

"Almost 2 years," Grover supplied.

"Right. Thanks Goat Boy!"

"But…you should still be older!" Zeus argued. "Yeah, well, being a tree reeeaaally messed up my aging process."

Zeus looked stumped, though it made perfect sense to me.

**"What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour,**

Annabeth gasped in horror. "But…that's where he is now! That's not where he gets that awful scar is it?"

Annabeth nodded sadly. Her younger form looked tragically upset, and both Grovers quietly comforted her.

**Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until...somebody special came to the camp."**

**"Somebody special?"**

"Ya, that's what he just said," Travis rolled his eyes.

"What?"Percy asked.

"I said, 'Ya-'," "No no no, yeah, I got that, but…why do you…say that weird."

"Say what weird," Travis looked truly confused.

"Yeah," Percy said, "You say 'yeah' weird."

"What do you mean, I say ya just like everybody else," Travis replied.

"No, you don't, you sound like a small German boy botching the word." _(AN/ please don't take offence by that statement, I just hate it when people write it like that, like, is that how you talk in real life? No? THEN STOP IT. It sometimes ruins a whole story because I can't take it seriously! Ok, mini-rant, over)_

"…I do?"

"Yeah," most of the room chimed.

"Oh… well…I'll…work on that. Y-y-yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"PERCY YOU'VE CURED HIM!" Connor ran over to hug Percy, who placed a hand on the boy's forehead to keep him away. "I just want a hug," Connor pouted. Percy snorted. "Yeah, last time you wanted a hug, I came out 20 bucks poorer."

**"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for.**

**Now, come on, it's dinnertime."**

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.**

"Conch shells are of the sea. Not surprising you'd recognize them," Fish Face smiled at his son.

**Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.**

"OOH OOH LADY ARTEMIS'," Thalia screamed enthusiastically. Said goddess smiled warmly at her huntress and sister, who beamed back.

I noticed my father looked a little hurt, but quickly hid it when his wife looked at him.

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads**

Almost all of the men sighed dreamily. I rolled my eyes, along with Artemis, only slightly annoyed, while the other goddesses glared at whichever man they were in charge of.

**emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.**

"Tree nymphs," Dionysus announced. Figures he would pay attention as soon as women were involved.

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.**

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.**

"Eww, unwanted mental image," Silena screwed up her face, while Percy blushed.

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D.**

Dionysus actually smiled fondly, lovingly even, at the mention of what must be his sons.

**Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.**

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.**

"You all do look alike," Chris commented. I glared at him. "N-n-not that that's a bad thing, I was just saying."

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down,**

"You, wish punk," Clarisse grumled.

**because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want nonalcoholic, of course."**

Dionysus grumbled about prohibition.

**I said, "Cherry Coke."**

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

**Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."**

**The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.**

**I took a cautious sip. Perfect.**

**I drank a toast to my mother.**

Everyone smiled.

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday...**

I literally groaned and face-palmed, as I had heard the Stolls call it.

**"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.**

**I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion.**

**I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.**

Everyone looked at him funny. "What? I had no idea what was going on! First night, remember? First night conscious anyways," he grumbled the last part.

**"Come on," Luke told me.**

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest straw berry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."**

**"You're kidding."**

"No way! That stuff is awesome!" Apollo said, with all but the Big Three and Hera nodding in agreement.

**His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

"You'll probably see," Hermes said.

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

**I was next.**

**I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

Poseidon visibly flinched. I realized I actually felt sorry for him. While I may not get to spend time with my children, at least I could claim they were mine without putting their lives in mortal danger and starting a war.

**Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.**

**I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.**

**When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

"Nah, we tried," Ares grunted.

"Ares didn't even last a week!" Apollo cackled.

"Shut up, Sunshine, at least I didn't get hi-," Aphrodite (surprisingly) clamped a hand over her lover's mouth. "I would like the children to retain some sense of innocence," she glared pointedly at the war god.

**When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a huge sigh.**

**"Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."**

"YEAH BABY!" Clarisse and Ares cheered.

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

**"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."**

Poseidon snarled, making Dionysus look frightened.

"Don't worry, Dad, he actually calls me by my name a few times," Percy said, seeming very amused by the frightened Dionysus.

"LUCKY!" the younger demigods whined.

**Chiron murmured something.**

**"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

**Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along.**

"Always do!" Apollo declared, his teeth blinding.

"Brother, I would like to keep my eyesight, if you wouldn't mind," Artemis huffed.

**We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

The demigods all smiled happily, but…for some of them it looked a little forced.

**Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.**

"Stolen!" Connor coughed, getting a pillow to the face from Percy.

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

Everyone smiled… except Hades, Zeus, and Dionysus.

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.**

**That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.**

**I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"Ooooo foreshadowing the future!" Apollo waved his hands ominously.

"'Briefly'?" Poseidon paled. Percy smiled cheekily in a manner that definitely did not calm his father.

"HEY! I'll read next," Katie said excitedly. Artemis tossed her the book, and she turned to the correct page.

* * *

><p><strong>Damn, I am really sorry guys, but this was a damn difficult chapter to write. I always hate reading this one, too…..<strong>

**So you may notice how Athena always calls them demigods, while the children call themselves half-bloods, because the mortals and immortals don't think the same. So…yeah.**

**Did you like how I made Athena start to like Percy almost unwillingly? Hehe I am so bad.**

**Well guys, I really should stop promising dates I cannot keep, so I'd say, my updates will never take longer than…a week and a half. That's the most, though! Could update tomorrow. But I wont…**

**Yeah, I changed my pen name, I sign my stuff like that anyways, so I thought, "WHY NOT?" and yeah it was that loud in my brain.**

**So, thinking I'll do one of the futures POV next, hmm? Otherwise, leave a review asking who.**

**VOTE ON MY POLL FOR WHO JOINS NEXT ON MY PAGE**

**-Schocker**


	11. The Curse

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, if anyone reads this, write Fish Paste in the reviews, I wanna see.**

**Thalia's POV:**

Just as Katy opened her mouth to read, there was a blinding flash, then a boom that knocked us all out of our seats.

I heard Percy scream in…pain? But he couldn't. Percy doesn't get hurt, he has the curse of Achilles! It must have been surprise.

I sat up and saw that only the Big Three managed to stay in their seats. My father was currently reading a note, looking very unhappy and…worried? Poseidon had gone white and was borderline hyperventilating. Hades looked grim, and seemed to shake his head in disgust.

Everyone sat up and I looked over to Percy. "Hey," his head snapped up to me. "Are you alright?" I asked in a concerned voice. "Yeah," his voice was shaking. "Yeah I-I'm fine. I think."

"You won't be for long boy," Zeus said in a low voice. "What do you mean," I said angrily, thinking that he was threatening Percy.

Instead, he cleared his throat and read-

_Dear Readers,_

_We have decided to make the reading more involved, so we have set a special curse upon all 5 books._

_This curse's function is simple: Whatever pain Perseus feels in the book, he will feel during your reading. _

_His Curse of Achilles is still in place, but this new curse works around it. When he heals in the book, he heals in the room._

_Happy reading._

_The Fates_

It was silent in the room. I could feel my horror rising like bile in my throat. _Oh god_ I thought. Just thinking of the quest I went on him with _he held up the sky. _And he was going to have to relive it.

I whirled around to see my cousin, my friend, my brother, the Hero of Olympus, curled up with his knees to his chest, white in the face, hyperventilating. Annabeth ran to his side and immediately started whispering comforting things in his ear.

"I wonder if he'll bleed while he's here," Athena pondered aloud.

"MOTHER!" Annabeth screamed angrily. I had only seen her that angry a few times, and none of them were pretty. Everyone glared at the wisdom goddess, and I was cursing her in my head. She had the decency to look ashamed.

"Well," Percy stood up shakily, "Let's go, I want this over with." His arm was draped over Annabeth's shoulders as they walked back to our couch, probably because she was helping him walk.

They sat, and we all followed. **(Order of sitting- Gods left to right- Demeter, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Hestia. Yeah it's a weird order, I know.**

**Demigods/satyrs left to right- Chris, Clarisse, little Grover, Beckendorf, Silena, Connor, Travis, Katie, little Annabeth, Thalia, big Annabeth, Percy, Nico, big Grover. End long ass author's note.)**

Katie held the book looking sick. It was obvious that she didn't want to read anymore. Travis looked at her face, and said, "Don't worry, Katie-flower, I'll read," and gently eased the book out of Katie's hands. Katie didn't look angry at Travis' nickname for her and just said a soft, "Thank you."

Travis flipped the pages and read out, **We Capture a Flag**

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, so uh…sorry? I've been busy, exams are coming up and teachers are piling on the homework. I'm actually supposed to be typing a research paper right now.<strong>

**BUT! To make up for being so flaky, I shall have the next chapter up in a few hours! Then maybe the next one, if I can scrape it up.**

**THANK YOU FOR STILL BEING HERE I LOVE YOU WITH A PASSION OF A THOUSAND BURNING SUNS AND YOU SHALL SOON SEE THE NEXT CHAPTER MAKE SURE TO VOTE ON WHO ARRIVES NEXT!**

**-Schocker**


	12. Capturing flags

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

**Thalia's POV**

_Travis flipped the pages and read out,_ **We Capture a Flag**

**The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.**

"I don't know, that sounds pretty normal to me," Connor said cheekily, trying to raise the mood.

Percy's still pale face shot him an amused yet exasperated look, making the room feel a little lighter.

**Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth,**

"Ugh, I still remember the headaches," Annabeth rubbed her temples. I rolled my eyes as she turned to Annabeth and said, "Keep the Tylenol nearby, mini-me, you're going to need it."

"I tried!" Percy whined, his face slowly returning to normal. I guess this witty banter was helping, and if wit was required, then I was required.

"Percy, you try lots of things, and I stress the word _try_," I smirked over at him. He stuck his tongue out at me and pointed at Travis. "Read older demon spawn!"

Travis and Connor faked hurt looks and Travis read while Connor stuck his nose into the air.

**and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird.**

**I discovered Annabeth was right**

"Always am," both of the Annabeths chimed, then looked at each other with weirded out faces.

I snickered and said, "I guess Annabeth is so used to people never knowing what she's thinking," "Damn straight," Percy mumbled, "that she's a little freaked out that someone thinks like her," I finished, sending Percy a withering glare for interrupting me.

**about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English.**

"Oh, so just impossible," Nico drawled, rolling his eyes.

"Hey shut up Death Breath, how easy was it for _you_ to learn to read Greek," Percy retorted.

Nico's mouth clamped shut, and Grover snickered next to him. "Dude, Nico, stop, you're so embarrassed you're gonna make me blush."

"He's definitely got you there," Chris grinned.

**After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.**

"Homer Simpson? I love that guy! D'OH!" Connor laughed.

Annabeth put her head in her hands, and I heard a muffled, "Why do I even bother."

I laughed and patted her on the back.

**The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery,**

_Oh. My. Gods._ I clamped a hand over my mouth to prevent a very unladylike snort that was trying to force itself from my mouth. Annabeth was doing the same, and Nico's shoulders were already shaking with repressed laughter.

The knot in my throat was building, I wouldn't be able to hold it in much longer-

Then I heard a little _blahahaha _from Grover that set us all off. I'm not sure how long I laughed, but I know I saw a beet-red Percy through my tear-filled eyes. I laughed until my stomach hurt and my throat hurt and my cheeks hurt and it hurt to breath.

Then Nico snorted and we all went off again.

Eventually I stopped and wiped my tears of mirth from my face with Annabeth and Grover. Nico was still catching his breath, and I looked at Percy's red face and let out a strangled giggle (very unlike me).

It was silent except for my, Nico's, Grover's and Annabeth's heavy breathing and occasional giggle.

"What…was that?" Hermes looked extremely confused.

"Just-Percy- and and and- a bow- and it just- you know I," Nico was spluttering.

"Just read," I half-giggled to Travis.

**but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow.**

That unladylike snort I had originally tried to repress came out, and we were quietly laughing again. Everyone looked over at us, but Annabeth shook her head and said, "No no, we've got, just keep going."

**He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail.**

_Nope._

Another round of laughing, except this time, many joined in, even Percy, but us original laughers were still laughing hardest.

**Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods.**

The goddesses still chuckling abruptly stopped and glared at the male Olympians.

**But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.**

"Well, only if you look at it that way," Silena said kindly, and Beckendorf looked at her smiling.

My face fell a little, remembering they were only together so shortly before they died. But after a second I smiled, remembering that they were in Elysium together, and would stay together for all eternity.

**And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.**

Clarisse smirked an ugly smirk worthy of her father.

**"There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.**

**The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing,**

Grover snorted, "That's a surprise." Then he widened his eyes when he realized he said it out loud. "Oh, wait, oh man, I'm sorry, Perce," Percy waved it off and said, "Don't worry about it! The sooner you develop that backbone, the better."

Grover looked over at the younger him. "He's right, you know. Percy isn't always right, actually he's often not right-," "Hey!" "-but he's right about important things."

**and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.**

"No it most certainly was not," Grover said.

Percy sent him a betrayed look. "What!" the satyr defended. "You said it first, and it was true!"

"It was," Annabeth agreed.

Percy threw up his hands exaggeratedly. "Why is everyone turning against me?"

"Oh, shut up, Kelp-For-Brains," I wacked him over the head with a pillow.

**I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids,**

"You're stronger now that you have the Curse of Achilles," Nico said, and Percy nodded.

"Yes…about that," my father looked over. "We didn't exactly discuss this earlier. Now the note said that this curse works around that one. So do you get hurt here?"

"Let's test," Nico said, and then he whipped his sword and brought it down onto Percy.

Percy's arm stopped it with a _clang! _leaving his skin unblemished. He shoved off the sword and stood up, yelling, "What the hell, dick-biscuit, you could've chopped off my arm!"

Nico shrugged. "I was pretty sure the curse was still in place."

"'Pretty sure'? You better be certain next time, asshole!"

"Percy, calm down, the god of medicine is in the room with us."

"NO! I won't calm down! I have to relive so much shit! Do you know how many times I get hurt? A LOT, GODS DAMMIT! I have so much shit I have to relive, and I want to do so without any extra hellish thinkgs happening, ALRIGHT?" **(1)**

Percy's chest was heaving and I gaped at him. I wasn't sure what everyone else was doing, but I'm pretty sure they were gaping at him like me.

Now, Percy wasn't one to curse. In fact I've only heard him curse a few times, and that was in ancient Greek. I didn't know why hearing modern curse words in English was so weird, but it was.

Percy's breathing slowed and his shoulders slumped. I glanced over at the younger kids gaping at Percy. They were most probably appalled at the good natured, kind, Percy screaming in anger and using profanities (though I was sure they'd heard them, just because Percy was soft-tongued, doesn't mean some other older campers were).

My eyes flickered back over to Nico who was wide-eyed and pale…well…pale_-r . _

"Percy…I'm sorry, I-I-I-I-," Percy cut Nico off, "No, Nico, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped. You're right; the note did say the Curse of Achilles hadn't been removed."

Percy slumped down into the seat next to Annabeth who still looked very shocked.

"Yes, well," Zeus cleared his throat, "I was just wondering when you got the curse."

Percy shrugged, and said, "I'll get it in the fifth-," he cut off suddenly and the blood drained from his face, and I could see the same happen to Nico. I suddenly realized that him receiving the curse would be in the books, and he'd told me how excruciating it was…I felt the blood drain from my face as well.

"Oh no!" Percy moaned, dropping his head into his hands. Annabeth put her shaking hand on his back and rubbed it comfortingly.

"Percy has to relive the Styx in the fifth book," Nico said quietly but everyone heard.

"Just read," Percy said miserably.

**or as good at archery as the Apollo kids.**

Despite how upset Percy was, I let out a strangled chuckle. Percy actually half-smiled ruefully at me, which made me feel a little better.

**I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork**

"That'd be Beckendorf, greatest metalworker I know," Percy said with a small smile. "Except you, of course, Lord Hephaestus," he amended quickly, but the blacksmithing god looked pleased with his son and smiled at him, who smiled back happily.

**or—gods forbid— Dionysus's way with vine plants.**

"Same to you, Pentagon."

"Oh com- that- that's not even name!"

Everyone chuckled.

**Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none.**

"Maybe not master," Chris nodded.

"But pretty damn good!" the Stolls chimed, receiving sharp smacks on the head from Katie for, "Language!"

Hermes smiled fondly at his son…I wished my dad would smile at me like that…wait…what?

**But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either.**

**Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields**

Katie smiled and sighed happily, and Travis grinned at her, before blushing and elbowing his brother who was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I nudged Annabeth, who nudged Percy, who nudged Nico, who nudged Grover and we all snickered at the poor, eldest Stoll brother. Well, Percy just kind of smiled.

**in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night.**

"You know, you're right, I hardly even notice those sounds at night," Annabeth nodded thoughtfully.

"Probably because you're overworking that ridiculously large brain of yours," I quipped and then dodged the small, mini-Annabeth arm that flew at my head.

**I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad. Nothing came.**

Poseidon frowned guiltily, but Percy smiled at his father.

**Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back...**

No way. Percy wouldn't do something so…stupid!

Then I though, _wait. Yes he would, he's Percy. Percy doesn't do many stupid things…well…major stupid things anyways, but when he does, it's to save those he loves._

**I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes.**

Hermes' face fell at the reminder of Luke and the prophecy.

**So okay, maybe gods had important things to do.**

The gods **(AN: when I say gods, I mean male and female. If I'm referring to just male gods, I'll say "male gaods")** all nodded very haughtily.

**But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something?**

A lot of the gods weren't very haughty anymore. In fact, they looked a little abashed.

**Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air.**

"Huh?" Mr. D grunted at his name, and after realizing it wasn't important, went back to his "California Wine Weekly."

**Why couldn't my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?**

"Yeah, yeah, ancient laws. You should really change those," Percy grumbled.

**Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.**

"Ouch! Tough luck there, Perce," Chris winked.

"Yeah, that is rather unfortunate for you," Beckendorf agreed quietly.

**We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.**

Grover snorted. "Percy, I was watching, you were doing better than some second and third year campers."

**The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long.**

"Riptide is the only blade for me," he said with a small smile.

**Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me.**

**We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.**

**"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."**

"Used to be," Annabeth corrected quietly with a sad smile.

**"Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.**

**The camper snorted.**

**Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!"**_**Whap!**_

"AH!" Percy jumped, making us all jump. He had his hand pressed against his chest. He rubbed his ribs and said, "Sorry. I haven't felt pain in a while, I guess it just…surprised me," he apologized sheepishly.

Travis looked at the book in disdain. "Go on," Percy encouraged softly.

**"Lunge!"**_**Whap!**_**"Now, back!"**_**Whap!**_

Percy winced with every _whap_, but didn't make any noise.

**By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same.**

Percy seemed to sigh I relief. I knew the water probably fixed his bruises on his ribs, but a lot of people from the past seemed confused.

"Water heals him," I answered shortly, then sent Travis a look that sent him reading again.

**Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.**

**"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."**

**Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.**

"My favorite!" Nico said sarcastically. "Then again, by the time I came around, no one could really easily pound Percy."

Annabeth and I glared at him. "Hey! I said _easily_," Nico defended.

**The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.**

**"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."**

"How long did it take you?" Katie asked.

"Umm, maybe, uh, a few weeks?" Percy said, more like a question than an answer.

**He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.**

**"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"**

**I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.**

"Yes, yes, yes," Poseidon leaned forward in his seat anxiously.

**The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right.**

"Hold out, Prissy!" Clarisse growled, obviously enjoying the fighting that was finally taking place.

**I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?**

**I tried the disarming maneuver.**

**My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.**

**Luke's sword rattled against the stones.**

**The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.**

Ares let out a low whistle. "Not bad, kid," a praised. I was confused, until I remembered that Ares didn't hate Percy yet.

**The other campers were silent.**

Beckendorf let out a small snort. "I'm not surprised; you just beat the best swordsman we've had in a century as a first year, brand new camper.

**I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."**

I snorted and said, "You would apologize."

**For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.**

**"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"**

"I can't," Percy shrugged.

**I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted.**

**This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.**

**After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"**

**Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword..."**

"A helluva lot more than that, that's for damn sure," Nico muttered.

**Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall.**

"But it's so easy!" the Grovers said in unison.

"We're not all half-goat, Goat Boys," I said, making them blush.

**Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.**

We all looked towards Percy, but he seemed fine. "I guess it doesn't do damage when it's referred to as in the past," Annabeth guessed.

"Logical assumption," Athena agreed, leaving Annabeth to look at her mother very surprised and confused.

**We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.**

**His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.**

**"Fine," he said. "Just great."**

**"So your career's still on track?"**

**He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"**

**"Well... no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask.** **"He just said you had big plans, you know ... and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"**

"Not yet," Percy winked at his friend.

**Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."**

**My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"**

_**"Blaa-ha-ha!**_ **He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest... and even if you did, why would you want**_**me**_**along?"**

All futures and a few past people snorted. "Yeah, yeah," Grover waved them off. "At this point, I knew Percy was loyal, but not to the point of insanity."

**"Of course I'd want you along!"**

**Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving ... Must be nice to have a useful skill."**

**I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins.**

**"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."**

"And where my Huntresses stay," Lady **(2)**Artemis nodded at me smiling and I beamed back.

**"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"**

**Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals.**

"No," Hera glared at my father. "That would be my husband's job."

**That's her husband's job.**

Everyone laughed and Zeus glared at Grover who said, "Hey, Lady Hera said it first!"

**When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."**

The room darkened with his name. "Yeah, ok, can we train the lights not to do that, we kinda throw that name around a lot in the next few years," I deadpanned.

Apollo rolled his eyes and snapped, lightening the room again.

**"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."**

**"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."**

I heard Hades mumble something about, "Rigged," and, "Ungrateful younger brothers," leaving me with a clear idea of how Hades felt about this.

**"Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."**

**"Uh-huh."**

**"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."**

"I should," Hades grumbled.

"You get one," Nico tells his father, who in turn almost smiles at his son.

**"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either.**

**He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here ..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."**

Nico glared at Grover, who bleated and said, "Well sorry, I didn't know that you would make it so homey."

**"But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"**

**Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably.**

**"About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes.**

"Made for me, and I'm the only one who kept it," Hades grumbled.

**Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing****too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."**

The room rumbled with thunder.

**Thunder boomed.**

**I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."**

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," Nico snorted.

"Why thank you, Watson," Percy ruffled Nico's hair. Nico rolled his eyes and smacked the hand away.

**Grover nodded.**

**"And the brothers kept their word—no kids?"**

"No," Hera hissed at Zeus.

**Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon.**

"Always does," Hera continued to glare at my father. I'm pretty sure if anyone else talked to him like this, it wouldn't have ended well. Connor obviously thought the same, because he whispered, "Whipped," with a chuckle.

Zeus whirled to glare at the Hermes boy, who squeaked and hid behind Silena. Hermes rolled his eyes. "Father, leave the boy be, he's harmless," but sent a sly wink at Connor.

**There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself.**

**When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia... well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."**

"The little brat deserved it," Hera glared at me, and I could feel my face get red with anger. _How dare she talk to me like that? Doesn't she understand?_

I didn't realize I was on my feet until Hera demanded, "Sit down, insolent brat!"

"NO! Why can't you understand? I had no control over this situation. I didn't choose to be born! Maybe if you controlled your husband, then things like this wouldn't happen!"

My last words resonated throughout the silent room, and I realized what a terrible mistake I had made. Hera deserved to be told, and needed to understand, and what I said was true, but that didn't distract from the fact that I had pissed off the Queen of the Gods.

She rose from her throne and took one step towards me. Suddenly, Lady Artemis was a few steps in front of me. "Don't touch my lieutenant," she all but snarled. Hera's on mouth twisted into a snarl/grimace thing, and she took another step and raised her arm, before my father's voice rang out, "ENOUGH."

Hera glared at me before flaring out her dress and stalking back to her throne.

Lady Artemis turned to face me and stepped in close, speaking so only I could hear. "Listen my young lieutenant, I can tell you are wonderful for the Hunt, and I greatly admire your bravery, and what you said rings with great truth, therefore I will not chastise you, but will only warn you to be wary of our step-mother," she said very quickly while looking into my eyes with insistence and a bit of worry. I nodded dumbly and she spun on her heel and gracefully strode back to her throne.

I sat down feeling dazed. I stared at my knee, counting the threads in my jeans, feeling the burn of a goddess' glare on me.

**"But that isn't fair. It wasn't the little girl's fault."**

I snapped out of my daze and exclaimed, "Hey! I'm not little!"

"Yeah! She's fifteen and 364 days old," Nico mocked, then hid when he saw me glaring at him.

**Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods.** **They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia.**

Zeus glared at Hades, who glared back and said, "What? You would have done the same, if not worse."

Poseidon rolled his eyes and gestured for Travis to keep reading while the oldest and youngest of the Big Three glared at each other.

**A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing the could do.**

"Damn right!" Annabeth and I chimed, and then looked at each other and laughed.

**He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."**

**He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters.**

I shuddered as I remembered the howling catching up, sending Luke and a young Annabeth ahead, fighting, getting surrounded, slashing, biting, screeching, changing-

I felt a small hand clasp mine tightly and looked at Annabeth, who seemed even worse off than me.

**She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died,**

"Except she didn't!" Connor shouted cheerfully. I rolled my eyes. "No, I didn't," I agreed.

**Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."**

**I stared at the pine in the distance.**

**The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. **

"You do it later, and with a larger army," I pointed out. "Yeah," Percy agreed quietly, "But I was invincible." He did have a point.

**Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much.**

"You really shouldn't sell yourself so short," Annabeth admonished. Percy shrugged and said, "Well, at that point, I hadn't done much at all. I didn't even know I was Poseidon's son."

**I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?**

Percy smiled to himself. _I guess it doesn't matter_ I thought. _He gets her back anyways._

**"Grover," I said, "Have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"**

Everyone turned to gape at Percy, who blushed.

**"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."**

"I'm always right there with you until you throw in those recent ones," Chris shook his head.

**"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"**

"They've tried," Hades said, pride coloring his voice.

**"No. Never. Orpheus came close... Percy, you're not seriously thinking—"**

**"No," I lied.**

**"I was just wondering. So ... a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"**

**Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. **

"Of course not! I can read emotions, and with you, that might as well be reading your mind! You always make choices based on your emotions," Grover huffed.

**"Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."**

"And problems I cause," Percy nodded, mostly to himself.

**"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."**

**Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. "I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you**_**were**_—**you know—you'd never**_**ever**_**be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes.**

"Why me?" Hermes asked. He didn't seem angry, just curious. Grover seemed to quake at being asked a question from a god.

Grover seemed to roll his eyes at his younger self. "Because you and Lord Ares have the most populated cabins, and, no offence Lord Ares, Percy just isn't as mean and bloodthirsty as the other Ares kids," he explained.

Hermes and Ares nodded, though Ares didn't seem as though he understood what we were talking about.

**Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"**

"Um. I think Nemesis is a god_dess_," Silena pointed out. Both Grovers blushed deeply.

**I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.**

**That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.**

**At last, it was time for capture the flag.**

A cheer rose from the campers.

**When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.**

**Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.**

"Yeah!" both Annabeths cheered, and I saw something like pride in Athena's eyes.

**From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.**

"Yeah!" Clarisse and Ares yelled deeply.

**I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"**

I turned and looked at Percy like, _seriously?_

"I just wanted to make sure," he defended.

**"Yeah."**

**"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"**

**"Not always," he said. "But often."**

**"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?"**

**He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."**

**"Whose side are we on?"**

**He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight.**

"Almost," Annabeth said very softly.

**"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And**_**you**_**are going to help."**

**The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins.****Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support.**

"Well of course!" Travis interrupted himself. "We don't offer our services to just anyone!" Connor finished.

**Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. **

_Only one_ I thought glumly.

**Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. **

Katie nodded. "That's true, we're not very aggressive."

Travis snorted. "Nu-uh, you beat Travis and I-," "Me and Travis," Annabeth corrected. "Me and Travis up all the time!" Connor whined. Katie narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to Connor before saying, "Well it's unfortunate you aren't on my team, then, isn't it," through gritted teeth.

Connor turned white and leaned as far away from the scary Demeter girl as possible.

**Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. **

Aphrodite glared a Percy, who smiled charmingly back.

**They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped.**

"Kid's right," Ares grunted. Aphrodite shifter her glare to her lover, then looked away, letting out a small, "Humph."

Ares will regret that later when he wants some quality time with the goddess of love.

**Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem.**

Hephaestus nodded proudly, and Beckendorf said, "You bet we will."

**That, of course, left Ares' cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.**

Ares grinned, obviously unaware that he had royally pissed off his lover.

**Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.**

**"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"**

**He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.**

**"Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"**

"What else would we use?" Chris said confusedly.

"I didn't know we would actually fight," Percy explained, not looking at all pleased about the idea of fighting-and actually feeling the pain.

**Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here—Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."**

**My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine,**

I snapped my head around to glare at Percy, who was trying to smother a grin. _"Never again,"_ I hissed at him.

"What was I supposed to do? It was coming right at us!"

"I don't know, but not that!" I glared at him some more before looking straight and grumbling, "Stupid son of Poseidon, tackle me off a cliff and snowboard down a mountain on Aegis."

**but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.**

**Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"**

**We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.**

**I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."**

**She kept marching.**

"You completely blew me off, oh, how the heart hurts," Percy mimed his chest hurting, but I could see his white face. I knew he made jokes when he was nervous or scared.

**"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"**

**Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something.**

"In my defense, you could've been a Hermes kid," Annabeth said smiling, but her eyes shown with worry.

**"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"**

**"Border patrol, whatever that means."**

"I think that's pretty self-explanatory," Katie said amusedly.

**"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."**

"That's your catch phrase, Wise Girl," Percy said with a smirk on his pale face. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I guess I do say it a lot, huh?"

"Yes," all of the demigods except the Annabeths chimed.

**She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.**

**"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."**

"OH!" Annabeth suddenly shouted, making many of us jump. "It's the plan where we put him and they come and the other he takes it and yeah!" she all but shouted at her older self.

Annabeth looked at her for a second. "Um…if I understand you right, then yes. That one."

**It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view**_**.**_**Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.**

**Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.**

Percy absently rubbed his hand.

**There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?**

Percy snorted softly. "That would have made things easier."

**Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.**

**Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual.**

"I changed my mind, I don't want any fun, some else take the fun, you can have it and keep it, no more fun for me," Percy rambled nervously.

**Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.**

**I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling some thing was stalking me.**

It tensed in the room, and lots of people were looking at Percy with worry.

**Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating.**

**On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.**

"I don't think that's any better," Chris said unhelpfully.

**"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.**

**Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that made me feel any better.**

"Doesn't matter, I'll get you myself," Clarisse said, but not in her usual bloodthirsty way, more in an almost apologetic way.

**They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.**

**I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid as the Minotaur.**

"Though it's a close shave sometimes," Chris chuckled, then yelped when Clarisse smacked him over the head.

**They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. **

"Ah!" Percy yelped. "I hate electricity," he ground out through his teeth.

**My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.**

**Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.**

**I fell back.**

**Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.**

I heard the breath whoosh out of Percy.

**They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.**

**"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."**

**I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb.**

"Gods damn it I hate your stupid spear," Percy growled. Clarisse hung her head.

**"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."**

**"The flag is that way," I told her.**

**I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way.**

"Probably not," Percy chuckled painfully. No one else could talk, just stare at Percy in horror, except Travis, who seemed to be reading as fast as he could, trying to get through this.

**"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."**

**"You do that without my help," I told them. **

"Why do you always make stupid jokes when your hurt?" Annabeth whispered. "Part of my charm," Percy winked.

**It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.**

**Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek,**

**tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. **

Percy made a strange noise that sounded something like, "Gssshzzzzzzz."

**If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've been shish-kebabbed.**

**As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut.**

Percy let out another shout as blood started to pour down his arm. A large pile of white towels with little doves on them suddenly appeared in front of Annabeth, who wasted no time in wrapping it around Percy's arm.

I looked up at Aphrodite, who looked worried…and a little green, probably from Percy's blood.

**Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time.**

**"No maiming," I managed to say.**

"Do you ever shut up," Annabeth mumbled while wrapping Percy's arm.

"Not usually," Percy grinned painfully.

**"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."**

**He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash.**

Percy sighed in relief and his color returned. His arm was still bleeding, but much more sluggishly. "Keep reading, I want my arm fixed," he ordered Travis.

**They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.**

**Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.**

Ares looked almost admiringly at Percy, while Clarisse glared at him.

**Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.**

"YOU BROKE MY SPEAR YOU-YOU-YOU," Clarisse spluttered, trying to find an insult.

"In my defense, you shocked the crap out of me. I'm a son of the water god, that hurts!"

**"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"**

**She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.**

**Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids.**

**The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.**

**"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."**

"Nicely spotted Clarisse," Annabeth quipped, laughing.

Clarisse glared at her and was about to yell, when Travis cut her off.

**They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.**

**The game was over. We'd won.**

"And you just sound delighted," Katie said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't happy with a certain gray-eyed, blonde-haired girl," Percy shot Annabeth a look, who looked back at him innocently.

**I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."**

**I looked, but she wasn't there.**

"Yeah, that'd be the magic hat," I said. Annabeth's eyes widened in awe. "A cap of invisibility!" "Not as strong as Lord Hades'," Annabeth told her younger self, "But yeah, nobody can see you."

"Actually, nobody can see Nobody," Percy quipped, making Annabeth roll her eyes. "Don't spoil it Seaweed Brain!"

**"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.**

Annabeth looked mesmerized again.

**I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up," I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."**

"I was actually pretty surprised you figured it out so quickly," Annabeth said.

"Why? Percy's pretty dumb," Chris said.

Percy stared over and gestured to himself. "Hello? Right here!"

"Percy's not stupid," Annabeth corrected. **(3)** "He's pretty intelligent; he just does a few stupid things sometimes. And a lot of the time, he doesn't know an important piece of information and that slows him down."

It was silent for a minute while everyone thought about that. It was pretty true; Percy really wasn't stupid, even though some people act like he is.

**Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."**

**"A plan to get me pulverized."**

"A plan nonetheless," Annabeth chuckled at Percy's outraged face.

**"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." She shrugged. "You didn't need help."**

**Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"**

"He tripped and fell on a sword," Chris deadpanned. "What did you think happened?"

"Just wait," Annabeth glared at him.

**"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"**

**"No. It**_**was**_**a sword cut. Look at it."**

**The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.**

We all watched in fascination as the same happened right in front of us.

"Can we keep going? I…want to get this next part over with," Percy said, looking nervous again.

**"I—I don't get it," I said.**

**Annabeth was thinking hard.**

"When aren't you," Nico rolled his eyes, then shrank back as two angry pairs of gray eyes glared at him.

**I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."**

**"What—"**

**"Just do it."**

"Aww, but I like it there," Percy whined, but his voice sounded a little panicky and I was starting to worry. I never heard what happened the first time Percy played Capture the Flag, but I know that it was bad, because it was written on the list of "Worst Games of CTF in Camp Half-Blood" that hung in the Big House.

**I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.**

**"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is**_**not**_**good. I didn't want... I assumed it would be Zeus..."**

Zeus glared at Annabeth, but I spoke up and said, "Yeah that's pretty logical, I mean, Zeus seemed to be the only one that would break such an important oath."

My father actually shot me a betrayed look, before slumping back into his throne like a toddler.

**Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.**

My breath caught in my throat. Part of my brain, the instinct and huntress part, immediately speculated that it was a hellhound, but the other part, the Thalia part, was terrified of what might happen to Percy.

**The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: "**_**Stand ready**_**!**_**My bow**_**!"**

**Annabeth drew her sword.**

**There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.**

Poseidon looked so tense I thought he was going to snap.

**It was looking straight at me.**

The sea god let out a small whimper.

**Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"**

**She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, **

Percy screamed, though not very loudly, and slowly lifter his bloody shirt to show his destroyed chest. Annabeth and I both grabbed a towel to slow the blood gushing from him, and I barked, "Stoll! Read!"

**there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.**

Travis was reading so fast he was stumbling over some parts, but he kept reading as fast as his mouth would move.

**By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.**

**Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.**

_**"Di immortales!"**_ **Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to..."**

**"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."**

I heard Annabeth cursing quietly under her breath.

**Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.**

**Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"**

I think I saw Clarisse facepalm out of the corner of my eye. _Good,_ I thought savagely while I pressed the towel to Percy's chest. _Maybe this'll deflate her huge ego and she'll actually fight when she's supposed to during the Battle of Manhattan. _

**"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.**

**We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.**

**"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."**

**"I'm okay."**

"Shut up and get in the water, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth mumbled.

Percy's eyes rolled over to her and gave her a cheeky grin on his pale face.

**"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."**

**I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.**

Percy sighed in relief and the blood slowed like last time.

**Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.**

Percy sat up, back to his normal tan complexion. Then he looked down at his shirt. "Aww!" he whined. "Now my shirts all bloody," he pouted.

I heard Poseidon chuckle and saw Hestia wave her hand, making the blood clear off his shirt.

Percy looked up in surprise, and then nodded and said, "Thank you, Lady Hestia."

The young girl smiled back.

**"Look, I—I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry..."**

**But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."**

**By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.**

Poseidon beamed at his son and Percy rolled his eyes a little, fiddling with his trident charm.

**"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is**_**really**_**not good."**

Poseidon's face fell. "Why not?"

"Well, with all due respect, Lord Poseidon, you and my mother aren't exactly the best of friends, and at this point, I was _dying_ for a quest, and was told I'd get one when someone special arrived at the camp. I assumed it would be a child of Zeus, but since it was your son, I figured I would never get to go on the quest with him," Annabeth explained.

"Yeah, well, you did, and you sort of invited yourself," Percy said.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain, you would've died the first hour of the quest without me."

"True enough, but still."

**"It is determined," Chiron announced.**

**All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.**

**"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.**

**"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."**

"He sounds really powerful when you say it like that," Grover said.

"Percy _is_ powerful," I pointed out.

"One more chapter before lunch," Hera announced, glaring at me.

"I think I'll read," Percy said. Travis tossed him the book.

**I Am Offered a Quest**

* * *

><p><strong>1) So I know Percy seems kind of bipolar and he suddenly explodes and stuff, but I think he'd be pretty overwhelmed and his emotions would be all out of whack before he settled into a sort of relaxed, accepting state, kinda like he is towards the end. Oh, and he'll be cracking jokes while everyone's freaking out, because we all know that's what he'd do.<strong>

**2) You may have noticed that Thalia calls every god by their name with no title in her head except Artemis, because Artemis **_**is**_** Thalia's Lady, and so she gives her that respect even in her head.**

**3) This one's more of an opinion. I **_**hate hate hate**_** reading fanfictions where Percy is displayed as a complete idiot. Because he's **_**not**_**. I even took some of annabeth's speech from "The Demigod Files" which means that that is what Rick says about Percy's intelligence. I just can't stand it when people make Percy really stupid, BECAUSE HE IS NOT.**

* * *

><p><strong>WEEEEW! Done! That's 9500 words total, subtracting about 3500 words as the actual book, that gives me 600 OF MY OWN WORDS. HELL YEAH.<strong>

**So, yeah, I'll get to work on the next chapter.**

**OH MY GOD I JUST RREALIZED I COMPLETELY LEFT RACHEL OUT OF THE WHOLE DAMN THING. GOD DAMN IT. I AM NOT REWRITING, SHE WAS JUST VERY QUIETLY OBSERVANT FOR THIS CHAPTER. , OKAY?**

**So, yeah, vote for who you want to join next my going to my profile and answering the poll, ok?**

**Till next time**

**-Schocker**


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